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REMINISCENCES   OF   RICHARD   LATHERS 


This  <work  was  prepared  under  the  direction  of  the  Editorial 
Department  of   The  Grafton  Press.       Five  hundred  copies 
have  been  printed  from  type  and  the  type  distributed. 
This  copy  is  Number. 


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RICHARD  LATHERS 

From  a  photograph  of  the  painting  made  by  Daniel  Huntington 
Now  the  property  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce 


REMINISCENCES  OF 

RICHARD   LATHERS 


SIXTY  YEARS  OF  A  BUSY  LIFE 
IN  SOUTH  CAROLINA,  MASSA 
CHUSETTS  AND  NEW  YORK 


EDITED    BY 

ALVAN     F.     SANBORN 


THE  GRAFTON  PRESS 

PUBLISHERS 
NEW  YORK  MCMVII 


£,,   fcl 


3  ^ 


Copyright,  1907,    by 
THE  GRAFTON  PRESS 


PREFACE 

This  book  might  well  have  been  entitled  "  The  Reminis 
cences  of  a  Peacemaker." 

From  first  to  last  the  governing  purpose  of  Colonel  Lathers' 
long  life  was  the  establishment  of  peace.  His  activities  in 
behalf  of  peace  were  of  the  most  varied  sort,  being  social  as 
well  as  political.  That  he  did  not  invariably  succeed  in  his 
efforts  at  conciliation  and  reconciliation  in  no  way  discredits 
them  or  him.  The  wonder  is,  when  all  the  circumstances  are 
considered,  that  he  succeeded  so  often. 

The  editing  of  these  reminiscences  has  been  mainly  a  work 
of  selection  and  of  condensation.  They  have  been  left  as  nearly 
in  their  original  form  as  the  restricted  compass  of  a  single 
volume  has  permitted. 

THE  EDITOR. 


50 i 7Gi 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I.  Old  Carolina  Days   ......         3 

II.  Old  New  York  Days         ...  .36 

III.  Business  Memories   ......       63 

IV.  Efforts  to  Save  the  Union  .          .          .          -72 
V.  Southern   Mission      ......      120 

VI.  The  Montgomery  Address          ....      139 

VII.  In  War  Time .168 

VIII.  After  the  War 231 

IX.  Reconciliation   .......     261 

X.  Real  Reconstruction  .....     289 

XL  Berkshire    Hospitality         .....      326 

XII.  Agriculture  and  Politics    .....     334 

XIII.  Men  and  Manners  at  Home  and  Abroad       .          .     350 

XIV.  The  Evening  of  Life  .          .          .          .385 
XV.  Last  Reflections         ......     398 

Index       ........     409 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Richard   Lathers,   from  the  portrait  by   Huntington   in 

the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce  Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

John  C.  Calhoun        .......  26 

Wilson  G.  Hunt 48 

"Winyah,"   New  Rochelle 52 

Interior  of  "  Winyah  " 54 

J.  C.  G.  Kennedy       .......  190 

Gerard   Hallock          .......  226 

Donald  L.  McKay     .......  278 

Alfred   Huger    ........  290 

Richard  O'Gorman     .......  374 

Old  New  York,  Painted  by  Colonel  Lathers           .          .  378 

Colonel  Lathers  Late  in  Life       .....  386 

Interior  of  Trinity  Church,  New  Rochelle     .          .          .  398 


THE  REMINISCENCES  OF 
RICHARD  LATHERS 


COLONEL   RICHARD   LATHERS 

Died  Thursday,   September  17,  1903,  at  his  New   York 
Residence,  248  Central  Park,  West. 

The  funeral  services  were  held  at  Trinity  Church,  New 
Rochelle,  Saturday,  September  IQ,  IQO3,  and  the  burial 
was  in  the  Trinity  churchyard. 


Reminiscences  of  Richard  Lathers 


CHAPTER    I 

OLD    SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS 

IN  the  early  summer  of  1894    I  received  the  following  letter 
from  the  Mayor  of  Georgetown,  S.  C. : 

"  BANK  OF  GEORGETOWN,  S.  C., 

"June  I2th,  1894. 
"  Hon.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York, 

<(  Dear  Sir: — Pardon  the  liberty  of  a  stranger  writing  to 
you.  While  I  am  unknown  to  you,  yet  you  are  no  stranger  to 
me,  as  I  have  for  years  heard  of  your  early  connection  with 
this  historical  old  town.  The  reason  of  this  letter  was  the 
publication  about  ten  days  ago  in  the  Charleston  News  and 
Courier,  of  your  letter  to  a  young  lady,  thanking  her  for  sun 
dry  papers  regarding  St.  Michael's  Church,  and  alluding  to 
the  old  church,  Prince  George  Winyah,  in  Georgetown.  Your 
letter  was  republished  in  our  Georgetown  papers,  and  I  take 
pleasure  in  handing  same  to  you,  together  with  a  copy  of  the 
Winyah  Observer  of  March,  1842,  containing  the  Episcopal 
elections  for  that  year,  and,  among  the  names,  I  find  yours  as 
one  of  the  Wardens  of  the  Prince  George  Winyah  Church ; 
and  thinking  you  would  like  to  have  this  leaf,  so  to  speak, 
of  the  past,  I  take  great  pleasure  in  sending  it  to  you.  I  have 
an  excellent  photograph  of  the  church  also,  taken  about  three 
years  ago,  which,  if  you  would  like  to  have  and  will  drop  me 
a  line  to  that  effect,  I  will  forward  to  you.  I  am  always 
delighted  to  see  old  residents  and  friends  of  old  Georgetown 
cherishing  fond  recollections  of  the  place  and  its  institutions. 
Though  I  belong  to  a  younger  generation,  yet  I  love  the  past 


:  4  .REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


history  of  the  place  and  take  pleasure  in  recalling  old  faces, 
scenes  and  memories.  Hoping  you  will  pardon  this  liberty 
on  the  part  of  a  stranger,  I  remain, 

"  Yours  respectfully, 

"  W.  D.  MORGAN." 

On  looking  over  the  newspaper  referred  to  above,  I  found 
many  items  with  which  I  was  connected ;  such  as  Military 
Orders  for  the  parade  of  the  First  Battalion  of  my  regiment 
for  drill  and  inspection,  and  a  notice  announcing  my  entrance 
as  a  partner  into  the  most  extensive  mercantile  establishment 
in  the  city,  although  I  was  then  hardly  in  my  majority — a 
piece  of  good  fortune  attributable,  not  to  my  own  slender 
capital  and  moderate  capacity,  but  to  the  confidence  and  aid 
of  my  friends,  among  them  Joseph  Thurston  and  Col.  Donald 
McKay. 

This  flattering  letter  from  the  Mayor  of  Georgetown,  and 
the  requests  of  numerous  friends,  kindled  in  me  an  ambition 
to  record  the  events  of  the  last  sixty  years  in  which  I  have 
borne  a  part. 

I  have  decided  to  begin  my  reminiscences  with  my  young 
manhood,  in  order  to  relieve  the  reader  of  the  usually  tiresome 
details  of  childhood,  which  cannot  possibly  possess  any  but  a 
family  interest ;  and  will  only  say  of  my  early  days  that  my 
education,  which  was  a  plain  one,  "  with  little  Latin  and  less 
Greek,"  as  Dr.  Johnson  says,  was  acquired  partly  in  the  very 
rooms  of  the  Academy  of  the  Winyah  Indigo  Society  where 
President  Cleveland  was  entertained  recently  by  the  City  of 
Georgetown,  and  partly,  during  the  summer  months,  in  the 
rural  schools  and  academies  of  the  North. 

The  'entire  property  of  the  average  planter  at  the  time  I 
started  in  business  was  hardly  equal  to  the  annual  income  of 
the  Northern  millionaire  of  to-day ;  but  on  this  relatively 
modest  sum  he  dispensed  a  liberal  and  refined  hospitality  which 
challenged  the  admiration  of  all  visitors  to  the  South. 

A  rice  plantation  and  two  hundred  negroes  worth  about 
$150,000  to  $200,000  furnished  an  income  sufficient  to  support 


OLD    SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS  5 

a  family  of  five  to  ten  persons  in  comparative  luxury,  since 
this  enabled  them  to  have  carriages  and  horses,  a  town  house, 
and  a  villa  in  some  retreat,  in  addition  to  the  homestead.  The 
natural  increase  of  the  negroes  in  twenty  or  thirty  years  was 
sufficient  to  educate  the  children  in  high-grade  seminaries  at 
home  or  abroad  and  to  provide  marriage  portions  for  the 
daughters. 

When  marriages  were  celebrated  on  these  river  plantations 
the  guests  came  from  as  much  as  twenty  miles  in  boats  rowed 
by  stalwart  negroes.  They  remained  for  the  night  and  con 
tinued  the  festivities  the  next  day.  On  the  return  voyage 
the  negro  oarsmen  kept  time  to  their  oars  with  improvised 
songs  in  honor  of  the  bride  and  the  groom. 

The  plantation  furnished  everything  for  the  table  except 
wines  and  groceries.  The  extensive  forests  were  not  only 
filled  with  deer  and  other  game,  but  the  "ranges"  offered  ample 
pasture  for  cattle,  hogs,  and  poultry.  The  rivers  were  filled 
with  the  choicest  fish,  and  the  marshes  with  birds  and  wild 
fowl,  which  were  brought  in  by  the  same  slaves  who  cultivated 
the  crops  and  performed  the  household  tasks.  I  knew  very 
few  planters  whose  cash  expenditures — even  with  lavish  hospi 
tality — exceeded  $15,000  annually,  and  their  annual  outlay 
was  generally  under  $10,000,  though  of  course  there  were 
exceptions,  some  of  the  planters  having  inherited  enormous 
estates.  Occasionally,  after  a  season  of  moderate  economy,  a 
family  would  make  an  excursion  to  New  York,  Saratoga,  or 
Newport,  where  the  expense  of  living  was  greater.  This  habit 
was  confined,  however,  to  the  richer  class,  who  lived  on  in 
herited  investments. 

The  rice  planters  on  the  Black,  Pee  Dee,  Samput,  Wacca- 
maw,  and  Santee  rivers  were  gentlemen  of  culture,  educated 
at  Northern  colleges  or  in  Europe,  who  rarely  sought  the  high 
and  remunerative  offices,  but  accepted  without  reluctance  local 
appointments  as  school,  charity,  and  road  commissioners,  and 
were  ready  to  represent  their  district  in  the  State  legislature. 
The  choice  of  candidates  for  the  State  offices,  for  Congress, 
and  for  Federal  appointments  depended  on  the  initiative  of 


6       REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

friends  and  neighbors,  who  gave  public  notice  of  their  selec 
tion  in  the  local  journals.  There  were  no  nominating  conven 
tions  or  political  caucuses.  It  was  quite  common  to  see  in 
the  columns  of  the  Georgetown  and  Charleston  papers  con 
siderable  space  given  over  to  nomination  notices,  which  simply 
declared  that  "many  voters  desired  to  nominate"  a  given  person 
for  a  given  office,  and  solicited  the  suffrages  of  the  citizens 
accordingly.  Politics  were  rather  ignored  in  the  drawing- 
room,  not  because  the  ladies  were  supposed  to  be  ignorant  or 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  questions  of  the  day  (on  the  con 
trary  they  rather  cultivated  a  taste  for  public  affairs),  but 
as  a  matter  of  good  form,  because  Southern  gallantry  held 
that  social  occasions  should  be  devoted  mainly  to  the  amuse 
ments  of  polite  society. 

The  gentlemen  of  the  South,  while  largely  interested  in  the 
contests  of  the  turf,  were  also  sportsmen  admirably  trained  and 
equipped  for  the  chase  of  the  deer  and  other  game  to  be  found 
in  the  boundless  forests  and  for  taking  the  numerous  and  varied 
fish  in  the  rivers.  To  minister  to  these  manly  tastes  and  pro 
vide  opportunities  for  meeting  one  another  at  regular  intervals, 
they  erected  clubhouses  of  pine  logs  in  central  locations  in  the 
forests.  Hither  the  hunters  came  to  partake  of  their  booty, 
which  was  prepared  for  them  by  the  most  skillful  cooks,  and 
which  they  washed  down  with  rare  wines.  The  toasts  were 
largely  devoted  to  State  and  national  politics,  and  it  was  just 
here  in  these  clubs,  perhaps,  that  the  intense  Southern  feeling 
was  generated  which  afterward  produced  such  notable  results. 
National  and  sectional  questions  were  discussed  on  their  merits, 
not  absolutely  without  personal  or  political  bias,  of  course,  but 
without  the  least  taint  of  what  is  now  called  machine  politics. 
Although  opposition  to  the  public  policy  of  certain  leaders  in 
the  State  was  a  bar  to  political  advancement,  still  personal 
character  was  an  essential  to  public  employment,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest  offices,  municipal,  State,  and  Federal— 
a  conception  of  the  civil  service  which  we  need  in  these  days 
at  the  North.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  official  in  Georgetown  or 
in  Charleston,  during  my  residence  in  these  places  before  the 


OLD    SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS  7 

War,  against  whom  an  unworthy  public  or  private  act  could 
be  justly  charged. 

Whatever  may  be  alleged  against  slavery  in  the  abstract,  as 
being  inconsistent  with  the  doctrine  of  a  Republic  and  the 
Jeffersonian  fiction  that  "All  men  are  created  equal,"  there  can 
be  no  doubt  that,  either  flowing  from  or  merely  coincident  with 
slavery,  there  existed  in  the  South  before  the  War  a  remarkably 
high  standard  of  public  and  private  integrity.  And  there  is 
real  danger  that  energy  in  the  accumulation  of  wealth  may 
bring  with  it  the  business  frauds  and  political  corruption  so 
prevalent  in  Northern  cities.  It  is  still  a  question  whether  the 
black  man  of  the  South  is  to  be  benefited  practically  by  eman 
cipation,  since  his  free  brother  of  the  North,  after  over  a  hun 
dred  years  of  freedom,  is  yet  his  inferior  in  morality,  intel 
ligence,  comfort,  and  usefulness.  The  negro  is  doomed,  I  fear, 
to  the  slavery  of  labor  at  the  South,  as  before,  without  the 
compensation  of  the  affectionate  care  for  his  person  from  child 
hood  to  old  age  which  slavery  afforded ;  and  it  is  greatly  to 
be  doubted  if  the  future  will  produce  the  prosperity  and  re 
finement  among  the  whites  which  characterized  the  earlier 
patriarchal  regime. 

In  the  spring  of  1841  Ex-President  Martin  Van  Buren  vis 
ited  his  Ex-Secretary  of  War,  Joel  R.  Poinsett,  at  his  rice  plan 
tation,  called  "  The  White  House  " — very  suggestive ! — near 
Georgetown.  In  the  course  of  this  visit  Mr.  Van  Buren,  "  the 
Northern  man  with  Southern  principles,"  as  he  was  then  called, 
was  lavishly  entertained  by  the  Pee  Dee  Club.  The  Club  gave 
a  banquet  in  his  honor  to  which  the  members  contributed  (as 
was  their  custom  at  festive  dinners),  not  only  their  rare  wines, 
the  antiquity  and  vintage  of  each  bottle  of  which  they  proudly 
heralded,  but  also  venison,  wild  ducks,  and  turkeys,  and  even 
New  York  beef  and  English  Southdown  mutton.  In  serving 
the  principal  dish,  a  rare  saddle  of  mutton,  the  colored  steward, 
overexcited  by  the  momentousness  of  the  occasion  (for  colored 
servants  of  that  kind  shared  the  pride  of  their  masters),  while 
reaching  over  the  shoulder  of  his  master,  John  H.  Tucker, 
who  was  presiding  with  his  usual  dignity,  tipped  the  platter, 


8       REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

filled  with  rich  gravy,  just  enough  to  pour  nearly  a  pint  of 
it  between  Mr.  Tucker's  shirt  collar  and  his  neck.  The  old 
Chesterfield  did  not  change  his  countenance  for  a  moment, 
but  continued  his  conversation  with  his  right-hand  neighbor, 
Mr.  Van  Buren,  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  Mr.  Van  Buren 
said  afterward  it  was  the  finest  example  of  good  breeding  he 
had  ever  witnessed. 

The  guests  at  the  Van  Buren  banquet,  at  which  I  was  privi 
leged  to  be  present,  were  the  leading  citizens  of  Georgetown 
and  Charleston.  They  were,  as  near  as  I  can  remember :  John 
H.  Tucker,  who  presided ;  Ex-Governor  Robert  F.  W.  Allston ; 
John  H.  Allston ;  Col.  Pinckney  Allston ;  Col.  John  Ash  Alls- 
ton  ;  John  Izzard  Middleton,  member  of  the  Legislature ; 
Henry  A.  Middleton ;  John  Alexander  Keith ;  James  Smith  ; 
Col.  Donald  L.  McKay,  president  of  the  Bank  of  George 
town  ;  Eleazar  Waterman,  editor  of  the  leading  journal  of 
Georgetown  ;  Stephen  Ford  ;  J.  Ress  Ford ;  Col.  S.  T.  Gaillard  ; 
Dr.  James  R.  Sparkman ;  State  Senator  John  W.  Coach 
man;  Benjamin  H.  Wilson;  William  Bull  Pringle ;  Dr.  Prior; 
Rev.  Mr.  Glennie  ;  Rev.  Harvey  M.  Lance  ;  Francis  R.  Shackel- 
ford ;  General  Thomas  G.  Carr ;  Colonel  I.  Havilson  Reed, 
member  of  the  Legislature ;  Alexander  Robertson,  a  commis 
sion  merchant  of  Charleston;  James  G.  Henning ;  Major  Wil 
liam  W.  Trapier ;  Colonel  John  Chapman  ;  Anthony  W.  Dozier  ; 
Richard  Dozier;  Major  Samuel  Atkinson;  Colonel  Joshua  John 
Ward,  a  rice  planter;  Dr.  E.  T.  Heriot ;  State  Senator  J.  W. 
Wilkinson ;  Judge  Frost ;  Chancellor  Duncan ;  Alfred  Huger, 
postmaster  of  Charleston ;  Colonel  Hayne,  United  States 
Senator ;  Capt.  Petigru  of  the  United  States  Navy ;  General 
James  M.  Commander ;  E.  B.  Rothmakler ;  and  Henry  W. 
Connor,  president  of  the  Bank  of  Charleston.  These  names 
are  all  familiar  to  present  Georgetonians,  by  whom  they  are 
held  in  grateful  remembrance. 

The  Allstons  above  mentioned  were  the  same  stock  as  the 
painter,  Washington  Allston,  who  was  born  at  Waccamaw  in 
1799,  three  years  after  the  Declaration  of  Independence.  The 
journal  of  Josiah  Quincy  of  Massachusetts,  who  visited  South 


OLD    SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS  9 

Carolina  in  1773-74,  gives  the  following  description  of  "  The 
Oaks,"  the  plantation  of  Joseph  Allston,  on  the  Waccamaw : 

"  March  23d — Spent  the  night  at  Mr.  Joseph  Allston's,  a 
gentleman  of  immense  income,  all  of  his  own  acquisition.  His 
plantations,  negroes,  gardens,  etc.,  are  in  the  best  order  I  have 
ever  seen.  He  has  propagated  the  Lisbon  and  Wine  Island 
grapes  with  great  success.  I  was  entertained  with  true  hos 
pitality  and  benevolence  by  his  family.  His  good  lady  filled 
a  wallet  with  bread,  biscuit,  wine,  fowl,  and  tongue  and  pre 
sented  it  to  me  next  morning.  The  wine  I  declined,  but  gladly 
accepted  the  rest.  At  12  o'clock,  in  a  sandy  pine  desert,  I 
enjoyed  a  fine  repast,  and  having  met  with  a  refreshing  spring 
I  remembered  my  worthy  host,  Mr.  Allston,  and  his  lady  with 
a  warmth  of  affection  and  hearty  benisons.  Mr.  Allston  sent 
his  servant  as  our  guide  between  thirty  and  forty  miles,  much 
to  our  preservation  from  many  vexatious  difficulties." 

George  W.  Flag,  a  nephew  and  pupil  of  Washington  Alls- 
ton,  who  was  a  schoolmate  of  mine  at  the  Academy  of  the 
Winyah  Indigo  Society,  was  born  in  New  Haven,  Conn.,  where 
his  father,  a  distinguished  member  of  the  Georgetown  Bar, 
spent  his  summers.  Flag's  portrait  of  Bishop  England,  in 
Charleston,  early  won  him  prominence. 

It  may  not  be  out  of  place  to  remark  that  before  the  de 
struction  of  art  collections  in  the  South  by  the  Civil  War,  the 
Georgetown  District  possessed  many  of  the  rarest  and  best 
specimens  of  Reynolds,  Copley,  West,  Allston,  Stuart,  Sully, 
Lely,  and  Gainsborough. 

The  military  titles  in  the  above  list  are  all  legitimate,  and 
yet  are  only  a  part  of  the  legitimate  titles  that  might  have 
been  used.  Apart  from  the  taste  for  military  affairs  of  Caro 
linians  generally,  the  law  tended  to  encourage  and  maintain 
a  high  degree  of  efficiency  in  the  volunteer  forces  of  the  State. 
Company,  battalion,  and  regimental  trainings  were  frequent, 
and,  in  addition,  every  two  years  all  the  officers  from  sergeants 
to  generals  were  assembled  for  ten  days  in  camp  to  be  drilled 


io     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

in  the  requirements  of  a  common  soldier  under  the  direction 
of  the  Governor  of  the  State.  On  these  occasions,  inefficiency 
or  lack  of  conformity  to  discipline  rendered  an  officer  liable 
to  be  degraded  or  fined  by  a  court-martial.  In  order  to  keep 
in  the  ranks  the  wealthy  as  well  as  the  laboring  white  popula 
tion,  the  fine  for  non-attendance  on  company  or  regimental 
drills  or  parades,  which  was  but  $1.50  for  a  person  without 
property,  was  supplemented  in  the  case  of  a  person  of  means 
by  an  assessment  of  fifty  per  cent,  on  his  last  general  tax; 
so  that,  while  the  mechanic  earning  $3.00  a  day  for  his  labor, 
but  having  no  general  tax,  could  well  afford  to  neglect  military 
duty,  the  planter  or  other  person  of  wealth  paying  a  thousand- 
dollar  tax  would  find  it  to  his  interest  to  parade  in  his  com 
pany  rather  than  to  risk  being  condemned  to  pay  $501.50  for 
defaulting,  by  a  court-martial  that  never  failed  to  inflict  and 
enforce  the  penalty.  This  system  kept  the  ranks  of  the  militia 
filled  with  the  wealth  and  intelligence  of  the  State,  and  tended 
also  to  build  up  well-trained  volunteer  companies  and  regi 
ments.  I  was  not  quite  of  age  when  elected  major  of  the 
Thirty-first  Regiment.  In  fact,  very  young  men  were  ac 
customed  to  seek  for  military  offices  as  social  and  political 
stepping  stones. 

The  ancestors  of  the  people  of  South  Carolina,  as  is  well 
known,  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  troops  of  the 
North  in  the  struggle  for  Independence.  The  heroic  devotion 
of  South  Carolina,  and  of  Georgetown  in  particular,  to  the 
cause,  was  recognized  and  commended  by  Washington  in  the 
following  letter : 

"  To  THE  INHABITANTS  OF  GEORGETOWN  AND  OF  ITS  VICINITY, 
"  Gentlemen: — I  received  your  congratulations  on  my  ar 
rival  in  South  Carolina  with  real  pleasure,  and  I  confess  my 
obligation  to  your  affectionate  regard  with  sincere  grat 
itude. 

"  While  the  calamities  to  which  you  were  exposed  during 
the  war  excited  all  my  sympathy,  the  gallantry  and  firmness 
with  which  they  were  encountered  obtained  my  entire  esteem. 


OLD    SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS  n 

To  your  fortitude  in  those  trying  scenes  our  country  is  much 
indebted  for  the  happy  and  honorable  issue  of  the  contest. 

"  From  the  milder  virtues  that  characterise  your  conduct 
in  peace  our  equal  Government  will  derive  those  aids  which 
may  render  its  operations  extensively  beneficial. 

"  That  your  participation  of  every  natural  advantage  and 
your  propriety  in  private  life  may  be  amply  proportioned  to 
your  past  services  and  sufferings  is  my  sincere  and  fervid  wish. 

"  G.  WASHINGTON. 

"  April  29,  1791." 

Our  school  histories  are  filled  with  incidents  of  personal 
bravery  during  the  Revolutionary  War,  but  standing  out  prom 
inently  in  the  early  reading  of  every  boy  South  and  North,  is 
the  life  of  General  Marion,  who  was  a  native  of  Georgetown. 
Georgetown  was  the  point  of  departure  of  many  of  his  daring 
military  achievements.  But  his  successful  campaigns  were  by 
no  means  confined  at  home.  He  was  the  hero  of  the  capture 
of  Fort  Johnson  from  the  British  at  Charleston,  as  he  was 
in  repelling  the  British  fleet  in  their  attacks  on  Fort  Moultrie. 
He  was  the  chief  defender  of  Savannah  and  Charleston  against 
the  British  under  General  Prevost,  until  overpowered  on  land 
and  sea  by  the  British  fleet  co-operating  with  a  superior  army. 
When  General  Gates  was  defeated  at  Camden,  Marion's  bri 
gade  came  to  the  rescue  and  recaptured  most  of  the  prisoners 
from  the  British  victors.  Indeed,  Marion's  name  figures  in 
almost  every  military  campaign  of  the  Southern  army. 

I  cannot  resist  repeating  an  old  story  of  Marion,  since  it 
is  one  of  the  most  interesting  incidents  of  our  Revolution.  It 
appears  that  a  British  officer,  bearing  dispatches  concerning 
an  exchange  of  prisoners,  was  led  blindfolded  into  Marion's 
camp.  The  bandages  being  removed,  he  was  astonished  at 
discovering  the  redoubtable  partisan  leader  to  be  the  smallest 
person  in  his  army.  At  dinner,  to  which  he  was  invited,  this 
British  officer  was  further  astonished  at  finding  the  meal  to 
consist  only  of  a  peck  of  sweet  potatoes,  roasted  in  the  ashes 
of  a  camp  fire  and  served  upon  a  fallen  log;  the  drink  was 


12     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

vinegar.  The  officer  could  not  resist  commenting  on  the 
poverty  of  the  fare,  and  was  assured  it  was  better  than  usual. 
"  But  your  commissariat?  "  "  We  have  none."  "  Your  pay  is 
good  ?  "  "I  have  never  received  a  dollar  for  my  services,  nor 
have  my  people."  "  What  motive  have  you  for  fighting?  "  "  We 
fight  for  the  love  of  liberty."  It  is  reported  that  the  British 
officer  was  so  much  impressed  with  the  conversation  that,  on 
his  return  to  Charleston,  he  resigned  his  commission  and  re 
tired  from  the  service.  It  was  truly  said  of  this  great  Caro 
linian,  Marion,  when  he  died,  that  he  was  one  of  the  purest 
men,  truest  patriots,  and  most  efficient  generals  our  country 
has  ever  produced. 

"We  follow  where  the    Fox   Swamp   guides; 
His  friends  and  merry  men  are  we; 
And  where  the  troop  of  Tarleton  rides, 
We  burrow  in  the  cypress  tree; 
The  turfy  hammock  is  our  bed, 
Our  home  is  in  the  red  deer's  den, 
Our  roof,  the  treetops  overhead, 
For  we  are  wild  and  hunted  men." 

It  is  to  this  South  Carolina  heritage  of  a  Marion,  a  Moul- 
trie,  a  Henry,  a  Pickens,  and  a  Sumter  that  is  due  in  a  large 
measure  the  State  pride  which  sent  into  the  fields  of  Mexico 
the  fearless  Palmetto  Regiment  led  by  Colonel  (Ex-Governor) 
Butler,  who  fell  in  battle  at  the  head  of  his  troops.  I  recall 
with  pride  that  my  first  commission  from  the  State  bears  the 
signature  of  this  gallant  officer. 

All  Georgetown  and,  indeed,  Charleston  sixty  years  ago, 
knew  the  erratic  wit,  Burlington  Thomas.  I  remember  one 
of  his  visits  to  a  planter's  family  on  Pee  Dee,  where  he  had 
taken  a  fancy  to  a  lovely  young  lady,  and  where  he  had  often 
inveighed  against  the  stilted  language  used  at  times  by  students 
returning  from  colleges  at  the  North  and  by  the  young  ladies 
from  the  fashionable  boarding  schools  of  Charleston. 

He  drove  up  to  the  piazza  filled  with  guests,  in  what  was 
then  called  a  sulky,  and,  as  he  handed  the  reins  to  the  negro 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       13 

servant,  looked  at  him  with  great  earnestness  and  delivered 
the  following :  "  Boy,  take  this  quadruped,  stabulate  him, 
donate  to  him  an  adequate  supply  of  nutritious  aliment,  and 
when  Aurora  illumines  the  eastern  horizon,  I  will  compensate 
you  for  your  generous  hospitality."  The  negro  dropped  the 
reins  and  ran  to  his  master,  saying,  "  There  is  a  crazy  buckra 
at  the  door." 

There  is  a  story  told  of  Thomas  that  while  at  Yale  or  some 
other  Eastern  college,  he  went  through  the,  town  with  other 
students  one  night  reversing  the  signs  in  a  very  ludicrous 
manner,  putting  a  barber's  sign  over  a  banker's  office,  a  tailor's 
sign  over  a  milliner's  shop,  a  shoemaker's  sign,  bearing  the 
words  "  soles  mended  and  kept  in  good  order,"  over  a  clergy 
man's  door,  etc.  Now  just  as  they  had  taken  down  a  tailor's 
sign,  several  professors  came  in  sight.  They  ran  with  the 
sign  to  the  dormitory  and  the  professors  followed.  On  reach 
ing  the  room  of  Thomas,  the  graceless  roisterers  hastily  placed 
the  sign,  letters  down,  on  two  chairs  and  locked  the  door. 
Then  Thomas,  opening  his  Bible,  read  in  a  loud  voice,  as  the 
professors  stood  listening  at  the  door,  "  A  wicked  and  an 
adulterous  generation  seeketh  for  a  sign,  but  no  sign  shall  be 
given  them."  Barely  able  to  keep  from  laughing  aloud,  the 
professors  turned  and  went  downstairs,  leaving  the  Scripture- 
reading  students  to  their  devotions. 

Shortly  after  the  War  I  told  these  stories  at  a  dinner  party 
in  Charleston,  and  Richard  Yeadon,  the  editor  of  the  Charles 
ton  Courier,  printed  them  both  in  his  journal  the  next  day. 
At  this  dinner  I  was  asked  whether  I  could  recall  any  anecdotes 
of  life  among  the  Yankees,  in  which  language  had  been  tor 
tured  for  expression.  I  replied  that  I  remembered  an  incident 
which  occurred  at  Huntington,  Long  Island,  and  then  related 
the  following: 

A  wealthy  but  uncultured  family  gave  a  welcome-home  dinner 
to  their  daughter  on  her  graduation  from  a  fashionable  female 
institution  in  New  England,  where  she  had  been  so  crammed 
with  highfalutin  language  and  sentiment  as  to  have  been  un 
able  to  digest  either.  A  number  of  the  young  men  of  the 


14     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

neighborhood  were  invited.  These  young  men,  anxious  to 
commend  themselves  to  a  person  of  so  much  wealth  and 
culture,  were  so  over-eager  in  helping  her  to  the  sumptuous 
dishes  before  them  that  she  became  quite  weary  of  their  po 
liteness,  and  to  protect  herself  against  further  attentions,  as 
sured  them  that  she  had  "  eaten  her  full  sufficiency,"  and  was 
"  sisininified  quite  up  to  her  twaddy."  The  young  men,  imag 
ining  "  twaddy  "  to  be  a  part  of  the  stomach  which  had  been 
revealed  to  her  by  her  studies  at  school,  looked  at  her  in 
quiringly,  whereupon  the  fond  and  proud  mother  explained: 
"  My  daughter  is  so  high  grandee  dictionary  gumfroggeted 
as  to  hardly  express  herself  intelligently  to  common  people." 
Another  Georgetonian,  Ex-Governor  John  Lyde  Wilson,  was 
celebrated  as  an  authority  on  dueling.  He  published  a  "  Code 
of  Honor,"  which  was  recognized  as  law  in  the  settlement 
of  personal  differences  between  gentlemen.  Before  leaving 
my  old  home  in  Georgetown,  I  co-operated  in  what  was,  per 
haps,  the  last  appeal  there  to  this  Code.  The  parties  were 
Gen.  Carr  and  Col.  Rich,  both  justly  popular,  who  lived  to 
serve  in  the  army  of  the  Confederacy  with  credit.  Their 
friends  met  at  my  residence  and  effected  a  settlement  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  requirements  of  the  Code  and  honorable  to 
the  contestants — without  resort  to  firearms.  The  names  of 
the  gentlemen  present,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall,  after  a  lapse 
of  fifty  years,  were :  Judge,  afterward  United  States  Senator, 
A.  P.  Butler ;  Captain  Petigru,  of  the  United  States  Navy,  and 
brother  of  the  distinguished  jurist  and  Union  man,  James  Peti 
gru  ;  State  Senator  John  W.  Coachman ;  Col.  D.  L.  McKay, 
president  of  the  bank  of  Georgetown ;  Gen.  James  M.  Com 
mander ;  Dr.  James  Sparkman,  and  Major  William  Trapier. 
It  was  my  first  and  only  experience  with  this  curious  insti 
tution,  which,  while  not  justified  by  religious  principles  and 
out  of  harmony  with  modern  civilization,  yet  had  the  redeem 
ing  quality  of  largely  suppressing  outbursts  of  passion,  per 
sonal  abuse,  and  outrage,  and  of  promoting  the  good  manners 
and  the  strict  regard  for  social  amenities  of  which  the  South 
is  justly  proud. 


SOUTH    CAROLINA    DAYS  15 

Judge  O'Neal's  "  Bench  and  Bar  of  South  Carolina  "  de 
clares  that  the  learned  Judge  Burke  was  a  friend  of  this  mode 
of  settling  private  differences.  It  relates  an  amusing  instance 
of  his  participation,  as  the  second  of  Col.  Burr  (who  after 
ward  killed  in  a  duel  the  patriot  Alexander  Hamilton)  in  an 
affair  with  John  B.  Church,  Esq.  It  appears  that  Col.  Burr's 
pistol  balls  were  purposely  cast  too  small,  so  as  to  be  rammed 
home  with  chamois  leather  for  patches.  To  facilitate  this  load 
ing  process,  grease  was  placed  in  the  case,  but  Burke,  in  his 
hurry,  forgetting  to  use  the  grease,  found  himself  unable  to 
ram  the  ball  home  or  to  withdraw  it.  When  he  was  reproved 
for  his  carelessness  by  his  principal,  he  replied,  "  I  forgot  to 
grease  the  leather,  but  you  see  Mr.  Church  is  ready ;  don't 
keep  him  waiting.  Just  take  a  crack  at  him  as  it  is,  and  I'll 
take  care  to  grease  the  next  load  for  you." 

Bishop  England,  Roman  Catholic  Bishop  of  South  Caro 
lina,  whose  influence  extended  beyond  his  church,  gave  the 
first  check  to  dueling  in  that  State,  and  indeed  in  the  South, 
by  forming  the  leading  gentlemen  of  the  State  into  an  Anti- 
Dueling  Association.  Society  in  South  Carolina  was  then 
devoid  of  Puritanism,  and  was  not  divided  along  sectarian 
lines.  I  remember  going  in  my  boyhood  with  my  mother,  an 
earnest  Episcopalian,  to  a  night  service  in  the  Georgetown 
Methodist  Church  to  hear  an  eloquent  sermon  delivered  from 
a  Protestant  pulpit  by  this  Roman  Catholic  Bishop,  her  coun 
tryman  and  guest,  before  an  audience  of  whom  nine-tenths 
were  Protestants  accompanied  by  their  rectors  or  preachers. 

Bishop  England  was  the  first,  if  not  the  only  Roman  Catho 
lic  priest  who  had  the  honor  of  being  invited  by  Congress  to 
preach  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  He  was  the  author 
of  many  literary  works.  He  established  in  Charleston  the 
first  Catholic  journal  in  the  South.  The  jurist,  James  L. 
Petigru,  and  a  number  of  other  public  men  of  his  time  profited 
by  his  ecclesiastical  and  philosophical  instruction.  He  was 
the  founder  of  the  Orphan  Asylum  and  the  early  free  schools 
of  the  city  and  was  among  the  chief  promoters  of  its  charities. 

He  was  beloved  by  all  the  cultured  people  of  the  State,  and 


16     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

no  social  or  learned  assembly  in  Charleston  was  complete 
that  did  not  include  this  talented  and  genial  Irishman. 

He  lived  to  a  ripe  old  age  with  his  maiden  sister,  dispensing 
the  hospitality  of  his  bachelor  home  to  all  the  distinguished 
strangers  visiting  Charleston.  His  visitors  found  it  a  rare 
privilege  to  converse  with  him  over  a  glass  of  Irish  whisky 
or  a  bottle  of  Madeira,  with  which  his  cellar  was  kept  well 
stocked  by  his  numerous  friends  in  those  days  of  glorious 
old  Charleston,  enervated  now,  alas !  by  Puritanism  that  lacks 
the  virtues  of  Puritanism. 

Gratitude  impels  me  to  express  my  obligations  to  my  friends, 
Joseph  Thurston,  at  one  time  special  partner  in  my  commis 
sion  business  in  New  York,  and  Colonel  D.  L.  McKay,  the 
president  of  the  Bank  of  Georgetown  and  afterward  the  presi 
dent  of  the  People's  Bank  in  Charleston,  who  saved  me  from 
threatened  bankruptcy  when  the  business  portion  of  the  city 
of  Georgetown  was  destroyed  by  fire  and  with  it  my  stores 
and  warehouses  and  most  of  my  merchandise;  and  it  is  one 
of  the  happiest  reflections  of  my  life  that  I  was  able  after 
the  disasters  of  the  Civil  War  to  repay  in  kind,  to  a  degree 
at  least,  these  friendly  services. 

As  already  related,  I  had  been  put  into  a  large  business  by 
wealthy  parties,  my  own  capital  being  quite  inadequate.  Con 
scious  of  my  comparative  inexperience,  I  laid  my  affairs  open 
to  the  banking  friends  mentioned  above,  thus  retaining  their 
confidence  and  receiving  their  advice  and  support.  One  sum 
mer  as  I  was  lying  ill  of  a  bilious  fever  in  Georgetown,  Col. 
McKay  called  to  see  me  and  generously  proposed  that  while  I 
was  confined  to  my  bed,  he  should  direct  the  cashier  of  his 
bank  to  pay  any  maturing  notes  which  I,  as  the  book-keeper 
of  the  firm,  should  specify;  and  that  deposits  of  the  daily 
income  of  the  business  should  be  made  to  the  credit  of  these 
payments  till  I  should  be  able  to  attend  to  them  myself.  I 
accepted  this  generous  offer,  which  relieved  me  of  an  anxiety 
that  the  doctors  had  declared  was  increasing  the  malady.  By 
the  advice  of  the  physicians  I  was  removed  to  Charleston  for 
a  change  of  air,  and  after  another  attack  in  Charleston  which 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       17 

kept  me  in  bed  two  weeks  in  a  hotel,  I  returned  to  Georgetown 
to  find  that  the  whole  business  part  of  the  city  was  in  ashes — 
my  own  residence  being  destroyed  by  the  fire  and  all  my 
stores  except  one  or  two  small  package-storage  buildings  on 
the  wharf. 

That  this  fire  was  not  my  complete  undoing  was  attributable 
in  a  large  measure  to  a  bit  of  foresight  on  my  part  which  I 
describe  here,  since  it  may  prove  of  value  to  young  merchants. 

In  looking  over  the  large  supply  of  merchandise,  much 
of  it  stored  in  wooden  warehouses  on  my  wharf,  and 
large  accounts  embodying  extensive  yearly  credits  to  my 
customers — who  were  planters  and  country  merchants — I 
had  been  struck  by  the  possible  danger  of  a  devastating  fire 
in  this  combustible  part  of  the  business  section  of  the  town, 
whose  only  provision  against  such  a  calamity  was  a  few  hand 
engines.  My  fire  insurance  policy  would  protect  me  against 
total  loss,  to  be  sure,  but  I  saw  that  if  my  account  books,  the 
only  evidence  of  the  larger  part  of  my  assets,  were  destroyed, 
I  should  be  ruined  beyond  salvation.  Therefore  I  posted  up 
over  my  iron  safe  in  the  counting  room,  this  printed  notice: 
"In  case  of  fire  on  the  premises,  all  parties  are  hereby  re 
quested  before  attempting  to  save  any  of  the  property,  to  have 
the  Iron  Safe  and  the  account  books  in  the  counting  room 
immediately  sent,  at  any  expense  of  time  or  money,  to  the  city 
Arsenal13  (an  isolated  fire-proof  building  on  the  edge  of  the 
town).  This  very  conspicuous  order  attracted  a  great  deal  of 
attention  and  caused  no  small  amount  of  laughter  at  my  ex 
pense.  The  conflagration  already  referred  to  took  place  a 
few  months  after,  and  laid  that  part  of  the  town  in  ashes. 
But  the  clerks  and  a  junior  partner  followed  the  printed  direc 
tions  and  the  books  were  saved,  and  with  them  the  writer's 
ability  to  sustain,  with  the  aid  of  his  insurance,  the  heavy  loss 
of  merchandise,  and  so  secure  the  credit  necessary  to  rebuild 
the  stores  and  stock  them  again. 

Another  eminent  person  who  was  closely  associated  with 
Georgetown  was  Mrs.  Louisa  S.  McCord  (daughter  of  Hon. 
Langdon  Cleves  and  widow  of  Col.  McCord),  a  typical 


:8     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

Southern  woman,  who  was  both  essayist  and  poet,  and  who 
also  translated  a  part  of  the  works  of  the  French  economist, 
Bastiat,  to  read  whose  writings  in  the  original  I  subsequently 
learned  French.  Mrs.  McCord  was  the  benefactress  of  her 
numerous  slaves  in  health  and  their  nurse  in  sickness ;  she 
conducted  a  hospital  on  her  plantation  and,  on  one  occasion, 
in  the  absence  of  a  surgeon,  she  set  a  slave's  fractured  arm. 
She  replied  in  the  Westminster  Review  to  the  allegations  of 
Mrs.  Stowe's  "  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  "  in  a  masterly  manner. 

On  the  Fourth  of  July,  1841,  I  made  my  first  public  address, 
having  been  appointed  orator  of  the  day  by  the  Town  Council 
of  Georgetown.  A  military  and  civic  parade  marched  from  the 
old  Town  Hall  through  the  principal  streets  to  the  venerable 
Methodist  Church.  There,  arm  in  arm  with  the  scholarly 
gentleman  appointed  to  read  the  Declaration  of  Independencer 
I  ascended  the  high,  old-fashioned  pulpit  while  the  band 
played  the  soul-stirring  hymn  "Hail  Columbia,"  and  faced 
a  large  audience  composed  of  ladies  and  gentlemen  from  all 
parts  of  an  extensive  district,  as  well  as  the  members  of  my 
own  battalion  of  the  Thirty-first  Regiment,  who  had  but  re 
cently  elected  me  their  major.  A  fervent  prayer  by  a  devout 
and  patriotic  clergyman,  the  thrilling  words  of  Jefferson's 
Declaration  of  Independence  rendered  by  an  accomplished 
reader,  and  last  but  not  least,  the  soul-stirring  notes  of  the 
national  anthem,  by  which  the  Southern  lyrist,  Key  of  Mary 
land,  has  fired  the  loyal  American  heart  on  many  a  battle 
field  (as  another  Southern  lyrist,  Randall  of  Georgia,  after 
ward  fired  the  Southern  heart  of  the  Confederacy),  were  well 
calculated  to  fill  with  dismay  a  young  man  not  yet  accustomed  to 
public  speaking ;  and  I  think  I  should  have  fainted  as  I  rose 
to  address  my  audience  had  it  not  been  for  their  kindly  ap 
plause,  which  they  saw  I  needed.  While  recalling  with  pride 
and  pleasure  this  incident  in  my  early  life,  yet,  after  the 
lapse  of  sixty  years,  I  find  myself  much  sobered  by  the  sad 
reflection  that  not  five  of  those  present  on  that  occasion  are 
now  living. 

Rev.  Harvey  M.  Lance   (an  ex-rector  of  the  parish  Prince 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       19 

George  Winyah  of  Georgetown),  with  whom  I  was  associated 
as  a  fellow-vestryman  after  he  had  resigned  his  rectorship,  was 
a  leader  in  every  social  and  religious  enterprise  of  the  district 
and  parish  of  Georgetown,  and  a  prominent  figure  in  the 
diocesan  councils  of  the  State,  where  his  good  judgment 
and  conservatism  exercised  a  controlling  influence.  His  planta 
tion  house  at  Pee  Dee  was  for  many  years  the  intellectual  center 
of  the  life  of  Georgetown.  In  this  connection  I  recall  an 
incident  not  unlike  that  of  the  setting  aside,  by  the  courts  of 
New  York,  of  an  important  provision  in  the  trusts  of  the  will 
of  Samuel  J.  Tilden,  carefully  drawn  by  himself,  which  goes 
to  show  that  human  language  is  quite  helpless,  where  the 
conveyance  of  a  large  estate  is  concerned,  against  the  in 
genuity  of  lawyers  who  can  command  good  fees.  The  wealthy 
relatives  of  Mrs.  Lance,  having  a  baseless  prejudice  against 
Mr.  Lance,  constructed,  with  the  aid  of  one  of  the  most  astute 
legal  lights  in  Charleston,  a  trust  will  in  favor  of  Mrs.  Lance 
and  their  children,  by  which  Mr.  Lance  was  not  only  cut  off 
from  any  direct  participation  in  the  estate,  but  by  which  he 
was  prevented  from  exercising  any  supervision  over  it.  In 
due  time  Mr.  Lance,  deeming  that  he  could  manage  the  prop 
erty  for  his  children  better  than  it  was  being  managed,  actually 
employed  the  same  learned  counsel  who  fabricated  the  stringent 
conditions  of  the  will,  to  go  into  court  and  overthrow  the 
very  trusts  he  had  so  skillfully  drawn.  The  result  was  that 
Air.  Lance  was  given  full  management  of  the  estate,  to  its 
great  advantage. 

I  was  introduced  by  Mr.  Lance  to  the  Rev.  Philip  Slaughter, 
D.  D.,  of  Virginia.  Dr.  Slaughter  was  a  typical  Virginian 
of  the  old  school,  a  learned,  zealous,  eloquent  churchman,  and  a 
firm  defender  of  the  doctrine  of  State  Rights,  just  beginning 
to  be  transformed  into  the  heresy  of  State  Sovereignty  in  retalia 
tion  for  the  aggressions  of  the  fanatical  New  England  Aboli 
tionists.  He  was,  by  reason  of  his  energy  and  eloquence,  among 
the  most  popular  and  efficient  spiritual  powers  in  the  Southern 
Episcopal  Church,  where  he  exerted  an  influence  not  unlike  the 
influence  exerted  by  Whitfield,  in  the  early  days,  upon  the 


20     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Methodist  Church  in  Georgia.  While  visiting  him  at  his 
lovely  home  in  Fredericksburg  I  met  the  distinguished  geolo 
gist  and  engineer  Edmund  Ruffin,  who  subsequently  made  him 
self  odious  at  the  North  and  shipwrecked  his  former  well- 
earned  reputation  by  foolishly  asking  and  gaining  permission 
to  fire  the  first  gun  from  Fort  Sumter  at  the  flag  of  his  country. 
Dr.  Slaughter  died  in  1890,  and  I  was  accorded  the  privilege 
of  contributing,  with  my  family  and  friends,  to  the  erection 
in  Virginia  of  a  suitable  monument  to  his  memory. 

In  the  summer  of  1844,  m  company  with  Dr.  Slaughter  and 
Mr.  Lance,  I  made  a  trip  through  New  England,  terminating 
at  Newport,  R.  I.,  where  I  was  presented  by  these  clerical 
friends  to  the  family  of  the  lady  whom  I  subsequently  mar 
ried — the  Thurstons  of  Bond  Street,  New  York. 

On  returning  to  New  York  after  the  New  England  tour  we 
decided  to  go  on  an  excursion  up  the  Harlem  Railroad — a  com 
pletely  new  mode  of  transit  from  the  City  Hall  into  the  rural 
districts  of  Westchester  County.  At  the  station  in  front  of 
the  Astor  House,  which  was  then  the  starting-point  of  the  road, 
I  remarked  jocosely  to  my  two  friends  who  were  about  enter 
ing  a  forward  car  that  if  they  were  experienced  railway  trav 
elers,  like  myself,  they  would  take  one  of  the  rear  cars  for 
greater  security  against  the  frequent  accidents  of  the  times. 
Mr.  Lance,  with  his  usual  good-natured  irony,  remarked 
laughingly  to  Mr.  Slaughter,  "  Let  us  follow  the  advice  of  our 
venerable  and  experienced  traveler,"  and  we  all  took  seats 
in  the  very  last  car  of  the  train.  Now,  unfortunately,  in  pass 
ing  over  one  of  the  highest  embankments  just  outside  of  the 
city,  the  axle  of  our  car  broke  and  the  car  made  a  complete 
revolution,  as  it  tumbled  down  the  inclined  plane  of  a  fifty- 
foot  embankment,  and  actually  regained  its  proper  position 
on  the  level  below.  Of  course  the  somersault  of  the  car 
produced  broken  legs  and  arms  and  other  injuries,  but  no 
one  was  killed.  I  was  among  the  wounded,  being  somewhat 
badly  cut  on  the  forehead.  Indeed,  I  bear  a  scar  as  a  remem 
brance  of  the  accident  to  this  day.  I  was  escorted  by  my 
two  friends,  neither  of  whom  had  received  a  scratch,  to  the 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       21 

Astor  House,  where  the  wound  was  attended  to  by  a  surgeon 
and  pronounced  not  serious.  But  I  could  not  refrain  from  tell 
ing  my  priestly  friends  that  I  was  the  vicarious  offering  to 
carry  their  sins. 

July  9,  1846,  I  was  married  in  St.  Thomas'  Church,  New 
York,  by  Bishop  Whitehouse,  to  Abby  Pitman  Thurston, 
eldest  daughter  of  the  banker,  Charles  M.  Thurston. 

On  our  wedding  trip  we  went  up  the  Erie  Canal  on  a  canal- 
boat  to  Niagara,  where  we  stayed  at  the  Cataract  House. 
We  also  passed  through  Boston,  stopping  at  the  Revere  House, 
kept  by  Paran  Stevens,  whose  wife  afterwards  cut  a  figure 
in  society.  The  Revere  House  had  just  eclipsed  the  Tremont 
House,  which  had  hitherto  been  to  Boston  what  the  Astor 
House,  which  it  resembled  architecturally,  was  to  New  York. 
The  morning  following  our  arrival,  my  boots,  which  I  had 
placed  outside  the  door,  were  missing.  It  was  the  custom  of 
this  hotel  to  send  the  boots  of  its  guests  out  to  be  polished 
(they  were  hung  by  their  straps  on  a  long  pole  and  carried 
by  a  colored  man  through  the  city  streets),  and  in  some  in 
explicable  way  mine  had  been  either  lost  or  stolen.  The  hotel 
reimbursed  me  for  my  loss,  of  course,  but  somewhat  re 
luctantly,  since  it  considered  the  price  I  had  paid,  $20,  ex 
cessive  even  for  wedding  boots. 

While  Mrs.  Lathers  and  I  were  on  our  way  north  to  New 
York,  in  May,  1847,  we  found  the  leading  people  of  Charleston 
very  much  engaged  in  entertaining  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel 
Webster.  It  is  necessary  at  this  point  to  go  back  a  little. 
In  1822,  or  thereabouts,  it  was  discovered  that  a  dangerous  con 
spiracy  had  been  organized  among  the  Charleston  negroes  by 
free  negroes  from  the  North  posing  as  preachers.  The  lead 
ing  gentlemen  of  the  place  were  to  be  assassinated,  the  money 
in  the  banks  was  to  be  stolen,  and  such  white  ladies  as  were 
considered  desirable  for  mistresses  were  to  be  seized.  This 
done,  the  conspirators  were  to  embark  in  some  of  the  vessels 
at  the  wharves  for  San  Domingo.  It  had  long  been  the  custom 
in  Charleston,  in  case  of  fire,  for  the  leading  citizens  to  take 
horse  and  attend  the  fire  as  a  sort  of  police.  This  well- 


22     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

matured  conspiracy  contemplated  setting  fire  to  several  sections 
of  the  city  at  once,  and  made  it  the  duty  of  each  negro  hostler 
to  shoot  his  master  as  he  vaulted  into  the  saddle,  in  order 
to  deprive  the  city  of  its  defense.  Unluckily  for  the  con 
spirators,  one  of  their  number,  anxious  to  save  his  master  and 
family,  cautioned  them  in  such  a  way  that  a  full  exposure  fol 
lowed.  Several  of  the  Northern  and  local  conspirators  were 
arrested  and  hanged.  They  made  a  full  confession  on  the 
gallows. 

In  view  of  the  constant  menace  of  this  kind  of  an  outbreak 
and  the  open  incitement  of  the  slaves  to  murder  by  Northern 
fanatics,  the  Legislature  enacted  a  law  which  prohibited  the 
free  negroes  of  other  States  from  entering  South  Carolina 
unless  they  complied  with  the  law,  which  required  colored 
sailors  coming  into  the  State  on  vessels  from  Northern  ports 
to  be  confined  ashore  under  police  regulations  until  their  ves 
sels  were  ready  to  leave.  This  law  was  enforced  by  very 
gentle  means,  and  comfortable  quarters  given  to  the  sailors 
while  their  vessels  remained  in  the  harbor.  But  the  Abolition 
element,  in  no  way  connected  with  commerce,  began  to  agitate 
the  subject  on  the  ground  that  these  negroes  were  free  citi 
zens  of  free  States,  and  had  a  right  of  visit  and  transit  of 
which  State  laws  or  police  regulations  could  not  deprive  them. 
A  distinguished  New  England  lawyer  was  sent  to  Charleston 
to  contest  the  law,  but  found  a  hostile  feeling  too  strong  to 
encounter  with  personal  safety,  and  returned  home.  Then 
Daniel  Webster  was  employed  to  lay  the  matter  before  the 
United  States  District  Court  in  Charleston,  which  he  did,  but 
without  success.  On  the  announcement  of  his  appointment  to 
this  unwelcome  mission,  the  principal  lawyers  determined  that 
his  visit  should  be  made  pleasant  for  him  notwithstanding  the 
hostile  purpose  of  those  employing  him.  Webster  was  the 
life-long  friend  of  John  C.  Calhoun,  and  his  career  as  a  lawyer 
and  a  broad-minded  statesman  entitled  him  in  their  view  to  the 
fullest  measure  of  Southern  hospitality. 

It  was  carefully  arranged  that  a  private  dinner  and  a  private 
ball  should  be  given  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Webster  every  day  and 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       23 

evening  of  their  visit.  The  leading  families  vied  with  each 
other  in  extending  these  courtesies,  and  the  series  was  crowned 
by  the  most  brilliant  Bar  Dinner  which  ever  took  place  in 
Charleston,  the  principal  speech  of  welcome  being  made  by 
Mr.  Webster's  former  antagonist  in  the  Senate,  Colonel  Robert 
Y.  Hayne.  I  had  the  honor  of  meeting  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Web 
ster  at  one  of  these  dinner  parties.  When  the  ladies  had  re 
tired,  our  host  produced  a  bottle  of  Madeira  wine  which  he 
said  had  been  bottled  by  his  grandfather  over  seventy  years 
before.  One  of  the  guests,  a  mathematician,  after  figuring  on 
the  back  of  a  letter,  remarked  that  if  that  bottle  of  wine 
was  worth,  when  bottled,  twenty-five  cents,  its  present 
value  at  compound  interest  would  reach  over  a  hundred 
dollars. 

At  this  moment  a  servant  announced  that  the  carriage  was 
at  the  door  to  convey  Mr.  Webster  to  the  ball  given  in  his 

honor  at  Mrs. 's.    A  number  of  the  guests  went  out  to  seat 

Mr.  Webster  in  the  carriage.  One  of  them,  while  folding  up 
the  old-fashioned  carriage  step,  found  Mr.  Webster's  foot 
obstructing  it  and  inquired  if  he  desired  to  alight.  "  Yes," 
he  replied  quickly,  "  I  want  to  go  back  and  help  our  mathe 
matical  friend  stop  the  interest  on  that  damned  expensive 
bottle  of  wine."  The  next  day  Mrs.  Lathers  and  I  embarked 
on  the  steamer  for  New  York,  and  found  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Web 
ster  seated  on  two  handsome  stuffed  chairs  with  an  awning 
spread  over  them,  which  had  been  specially  made  for  their  com 
fort  by  order  of  the  agent  of  the  line.  On  a  small  table 
beside  them  which  was  screwed  to  the  deck  were  a  few  glasses, 
a  pitcher  of  ice  water,  a  bottle  of  old  brandy,  and  a  basket 
of  crackers  and  cheese.  Of  course,  this  group  attracted  the 
passengers  irresistibly,  and  Mr.  Webster's  anecdotes  and  his 
observations  on  current  events  were  the  charm  of  the  voyage. 
Mr.  Webster  seemed  to  relax  greatly  as  he  imbibed  frequently 
the  cheering  fluid  before  him,  and  he  gave  out  to  his  admiring 
audience  reminiscences  of  senatorial  contests  in  which  Mr. 
Calhoun  and  Mr.  Hayne  came  in  for  his  profound  admiration. 
The  morning  of  the  second  day  out,  a  passenger  met  him  and 


24     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

congratulated  him  on  his  early  appearance  on  deck.     He  re 
plied  in  a  tone  of  much  feeling: 

'  The  morning  is  sweet,  fresh,  and  delightful.  Everybody 
knows  that  morning  is  applied  metaphorically  to  many  ob 
jects  and  to  many  occasions.  The  health,  strength,  and  beauty 
of  early  years  have  given  to  that  period  the  name  of  the  morn 
ing  of  life.  Of  a  young  woman  we  say  she  is  as  bright  as 
the  morning,  and  no  one  doubts  why  Lucifer  is  called  the 
son  of  the  morning.  But  the  morning,  few  of  the  inhabitants 
of  cities  know  anything  about.  Among  the  people  of  Boston, 
not  one  in  a  thousand  sees  the  morning  sun  once  in  a  year. 
Their  idea  is  that  it  is  part  of  the  day  which  comes  along  after 
a  cup  of  coffee,  a  beefsteak,  or  a  piece  of  toast.  With  them, 
morning  is  not  a  new  issuing  of  light,  a  new  bursting  forth 
of  the  sun,  a  new  waking  up  of  all  that  has  life  from  a  sort 
of  temporary  death  to  behold  again  the  works  of  God — the 
heavens  and  the  earth.  It  is  to  them  only  a  part  of  the  domes 
tic  day  belonging  to  breakfast,  to  reading  the  newspapers,  an 
swering  notes,  sending  the  children  to  school,  and  giving  orders 
for  dinner.  The  first  faint  streak  of  light,  the  earliest  purpling 
of  the  east  which  the  lark  springs  up  to  greet,  and  the  deeper 
and  deeper  coloring  into  orange  and  red,  till  at  length  the 
glorious  sun  is  seen,  Regent  of  day — this  they  never  enjoy ;  for 
this  they  have  never  seen.  Beautiful  descriptions  of  the  morning 
abound  in  all  languages,  but  they  are  the  strongest,  perhaps, 
in  those  of  the  East,  where  the  sun  is  often  an  object  of  wor 
ship.  King  David  speaks  of  taking  to  himself  the  wings  of 
the  morning.  This  is  highly  poetic  and  beautiful.  The  wings 
of  the  morning  are  the  beams  of  the  rising  sun.  Rays  of  light 
are  wings.  It  is  thus  said  that  the  Son  of  Righteousness  shall 
arise,  with  healing  in  his  wings,  a  rising  sun  which  shall 
scatter  light  and  health  and  joy  throughout  the  universe. 
Milton  has  fine  descriptions  of  morning,  but  not  so  many  as 
Shakespeare,  from  whose  writings  pages  of  the  most  beautiful 
images,  all  founded  on  the  glory  of  the  morning,  might  be 
filled." 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       25 

After  this  rhapsody  he  paused,  as  we  were  all  electrified  by 
his  fervent  eloquence,  and  in  a  lower  voice  resumed,  "  I  know 
the  morning,  I  am  acquainted  with  it  and  love  it,  fresh  and 
sweet  as  it  is — a  daily  new  creation  breaking-  forth  and  calling 
all  that  have  life  and  breath  and  being  to  new  adoration,  new 
enjoyment  and  new  gratitude."  Good  memory  that  I  have, 
I  have,  nevertheless,  been  able  to  recall  Mr.  Webster's  language 
only  by  the  aid  of  a  private  letter  on  the  same  subject  with 
which  I  was  afterward  favored. 

Mr.  Webster's  self-possession  and  commanding  influence 
are  verified  by  an  anecdote  told  me  by  Moses  Grinnel,  his 
lifelong  and  intimate  friend.  The  evening  before  his  speech 
in  front  of  the  Exchange,  he  was  receiving  at  the  Astor  House 
his  hosts  of  admirers  of  both  parties,  when  Grinnel  and 
Simeon  Draper  (Whig  leaders  at  that  time)  dropped  in  and 
whispered  in  his  ear  that  his  note  for  $10,000  in  the  Bank  of 
America,  of  which  they  were  the  endorsers,  would  fall  due  the 
next  day,  expressing  at  the  same  time  much  regret  for  inter 
rupting  him  during  the  reception.  Mr.  Webster,  raising  up 
his  head  and  straightening  his  body  to  his  full  height,  said 
with  becoming  dignity,  "  Gentlemen,  if  it  is  due  to-morrow, 
let  it  be  paid,"  and  it  was  paid  by  the  endorsers,  who  had  no 
time  to  enjoy  the  reception,  but  rushed  about  collecting,  by 
contributions  from  their  friends,  the  funds  necessary  to  pay 
the  obligation  to  the  bank. 

And  here,  in  illustration  of  another  phase  of  his  character, 
I  recall  another  anecdote. 

Mr.  Calhoun,  in  the  latter  years  of  his  life,  was  often 
absent  from  his  seat  in  the  Senate  by  reason  of  in 
disposition.  When  this  happened,  Mr.  Webster  would  call 
at  his  lodgings  to  inquire  as  to  his  health  and  to  relate  to 
him  the  incidents  transpiring  during  the  session.  On  one  of 
these  occasions,  finding  he  was  in  low  spirits,  he  remarked : 
"  Calhoun,  physically,  you  give  no  evidence  of  declining 
health.  You  must  be  overanxious  in  money  matters.  Are  you 
not  in  debt  ?  "  This  question  rather  touched  the  dignity  of 
Calhoun.  Webster  observing  this,  took  him  by  the  hand  and 


26     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

in  the  most  soothing  manner  said,  "  Calhoun,  there  must  be 
no  undue  display  of  dignity  between  us.  We  came  into  Con 
gress  about  the  same  period  and  have  continued  there  many 
years  representing  conflicting  opinions  which  have  often  drawn 
us  into -heated  sectional  debates.  But  during  these  debates 
not  one  word  of  personal  invective  has  ever  escaped  our  lips." 

Calhoun,  deeply  moved  by  these  remarks,  replied,  "  I  ap 
preciate  deeply  your  friendly  remarks  and  will  respond  to 
your  question  in  the  spirit  in  which  it  is  made.  I  am  in  debt, 
but  I  am  not  insolvent.  The  fact  is,  on  returning  home 
from  your  New  England  College,  I  attempted  to  pursue  the 
law,  a  profession  for  which  I  had  been  trained,  but  my  fellow 
citizens,  as  was  the  case  with  yours,  shoved  me  into  public 
life,  from  which  I  have  never  retired.  While  my  family  was 
small,  the  income  of  my  inherited  estate  was  ample  for  my 
modest  expenditures.  But  later  on  the  family  increased  and 
expenses  also.  I  was  compelled  to  place  a  mortgage  on  my 
plantation  and  to  rely  largely  upon  my  salary  as  Senator  to 
meet  my  expenses.  And,  perhaps,  as  you  seemed  to  judge,  I 
was  anticipating  that  in  case  of  my  death  and  the  loss  of  my 
income  as  Senator  my  family  would  be  compelled  to  dispose 
of  our  homestead."  Webster  then  said,  "  How  much  is  the 
mortgage  ?  "  "  Twenty  thousand  dollars,"  Calhoun  replied. 
"  My  dear  friend,  you  are  too  valuable  to  our  country  to  have 
any  anxiety  about  such  a  paltry  sum  as  $20,000.  I  will  by 
twelve  o'clock  to-morrow  raise  the  sum  and  cancel  the  mort 
gage — even  if  it  were  twice  as  large." 

Mr.  Calhoun  responded  his  thanks  with  great  emotion,  add 
ing,  "  You  have  placed  me  under  an  obligation  I  can  never 
repay,  but  how  could  a  Carolina  United  States  Senator  de 
grade  himself  by  accepting  such  a  charity?"  "Ah,"  said 
Webster,  "  Nature  should  have  made  you  a  Puritan  of  New 
England  and  me  Cavalier  of  South  Carolina ;  for  I  would 
have  drunk  their  Madeira  wine  and  borrowed  their  money 
to  keep  pace  with  their  utmost  liberality." 

Mr.  Calhoun,  a  short  time  before  his  death,  while  giving 
his  estimate  of  his  great  New  England  opponent  before  a  large 


JOHN  C.  CALIIOUN 

In  his  maturity,  from  a  portrait  owned  by  Robert  N.   Gourdin,  Esq., 
Charleston,   S.   C.      (Artist  unknown) 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       27 

company  of  statesmen,  remarked,  "  Of  all  the  leading  men  of 
the  day  in  any  country,  Daniel  Webster's  political  career  has 
been  more  strongly  marked  by  a  strict  regard  for  truth  and 
honor  than  any  leading  man  of  the  age." 

On  the  other  hand,  Webster's  eulogy  of  Calhoun,  delivered 
in  the  Senate,  April  i,  1850,  contained  the  following  passage: 

"  Calhoun's  eloquence  was  part  of  his  intellectual  charac 
ter.  It  grew  out  of  the  qualities  of  his  mind.  It  was  plain, 
terse,  strong,  condensed,  concise,  sometimes  impassioned,  still 
always  severe.  He  was  a  man  of  undoubted  genius,  and  of 
commanding  talent.  All  the  country  and  all  the  world  admit 
that.  He  had  the  basis,  the  indispensable  basis  of  all  high 
character;  and  that  was  unspotted  integrity  and  unimpeached 
honor.  Firm  in  his  purpose,  perfectly  patriotic  and  honest, 
I  do  not  believe  he  had  a  selfish  motive  or  a  selfish  feeling. 
He  has  lived  long  enough,  he  has  done  enough,  and  he  has 
done  it  so  well,  so  successfully,  so  honorably  as  to  connect 
himself  for  all  time  with  the  records  of  his  country.  However 
he  may  have  differed  from  others  of  us  in  his  political  opin 
ions,  or  his  political  principles,  those  principles  and  those  opin 
ions  will  now  descend  to  posterity  under  the  sanction  of  a 
great  name." 

I  insert  here  three  of  Calhoun's  letters,  which  have  come 
into  my  hands,  the  last  (written  to  his  eldest  son,  who  was  a 
planter  in  Marengo  County,  Alabama)  having  been  presented 
me  by  his  grandson  as  an  example  of  his  interest  in  farming 
and  in  his  family : 

"WASHINGTON,  31  May,  1826. 
"  HON.  M.  STERLING, 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  received  duly  your  two  letters  of  the 
1 7th  March  and  2nd  May,  which  I  would  have  acknowl 
edged  at  an  earlier  period,  had  I  not  been  prevented 
by  the  laborious  sittings  of  the  Senate  and  the  indisposition 
of  my  family.  It  is  now  no  longer  doubted  that  we  are  on 
the  eve  of  a  great  political  struggle,  which  the  papers  in  the 
interest  of  Mr.  Adams  and  Clay  attribute  to  '  factious  oppo- 


28     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

sition,'  but  which,  if  I  do  not  greatly  mistake,  springs  from 
causes  far  deeper.  I  do  not  believe  it  possible  for  any  body 
of  men,  however  great  their  talents  and  strenuous  their  ef 
forts,  to  rear  up  a  powerful  opposition  to  the  Executive  of 
the  Union,  unless  there  be  cause  for  discontent.  A  state  may 
be  easily  excited,  but  nothing  can  be  more  difficult  than  to 
produce  a  general  discontent  over  the  whole  of  our  widely  ex 
tended  and  diversified  country.  Not  only  causes  for  discon 
tent  must  exist,  but  they  must  be  powerful  ones;  such  as  in 
the  opinion  of  the  people  are  calculated  to  endanger  liberty, 
or  arrest  the  national  prosperity.  The  present  general  dis 
content  originates  in  such  causes.  There  are  many,  and  they 
among  the  cool  and  vigilant  observers  of  events,  who  do  sin 
cerely  believe,  that  the  liberty  of  this  country  was  never  in 
greater  danger  than  at  present.  Such  I  confess  is  my  own  im 
pression.  If  we  examine  attentively  the  structure  of  our 
government,  we  will  see  how  easy  it  is  for  it  to  slide  into 
Monarchy.  The  power  of  the  executive  is  already  kingly, 
and  in  that,  which,  in  modern  times,  gives  danger  to  power, 
patronage,  it  is  almost  without  restriction.  The  executive 
is  not  Kingly  in  the  extent  of  its  power,  but  in  its  organi 
zation.  It  is  one,  a  monarch,  in  the  strict  meaning  of  the 
term.  How  then  can  we  with  propriety  call  a  government  thus 
organized  in  its  executive  branch,  a  Republick?  It  is  a  ques 
tion  deeply  important,  and  which  ought  to  be  carefully  solved 
by  the  American  people.  It  is  only  because  it  (the  executive 
power)  is  dependent  on  the  people ;  or  in  other  words,  because 
he  who  exercises  it,  must  be  raised  to  power  and  continued 
there  by  the  popular  voice.  It  is  this  responsibility,  which 
makes  it  democratic!*.  Let  the  power  remain  the  same,  but 
suppose  the  President  to  be  vested  with  the  power  of  nominat 
ing  his  successor,  and  it  is  manifest,  that  our  government 
would  no  longer  be  a  republick.  That  single  change  would  make 
it  a  Monarchy,  because  the  power  of  the  Executive  would  no 
longer  be  under  responsibility  to  the  people.  Let  us  again 
suppose,  a  state  of  things  a  little  short  of  this,  a  state  in  which 
a  combination  of  influential  men  aided  by  the  power  and 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       29 

patronage  of  the  Executive  and  the  defects  in  the  mode  of 
election,  can  designate  the  Chief  Magistrate.  It  is  clear,  in 
this  state  of  things,  it  would  be  mocking  to  call  our  govern 
ment  a  republick.  Responsibility  to  the  people  would  be  gone. 
They  would  gradually  become  insignificant  with  the  loss  of 
power;  and  the  whole  aim  of  those  in  power  would  be  to 
form  combinations  by  enlisting  and  proscribing  such  as  might 
favor  the  views  of  those  in  power,  or  oppose,  in  order  to 
strengthen,  or  perpetuate  that  power.  In  a  short  time,  the 
system  would  wrork  into  a  state  of  perfect  putrefaction,  and 
the  honor  and  emoluments  of  office  would  be  considered  only 
as  instruments  of  bribery.  How  far  are  we  removed  from  the 
commencement  of  this  state  of  things?  The  final  issue  of  the 
last  election  depended  on  a  combination  in  the  House  of  Rep 
resentatives.  He  who  headed  it  has  been  placed  by  the  power 
created  by  his  own  efforts  in  the  line  of  safe  presidents.  He 
has  gone  over  from  the  side  of  the  people  to  the  side  of  power, 
from  the  speaker's  chair  to  the  Department  of  State;  and  the 
translation  has  been  made  under  circumstances  calculated 
deeply  to  impair  his  popularity  as  acknowledged  by  all,  friends 
and  foes.  If  the  Presidency  can  only  be  reached  by  the  popular 
voice,  and  if  that  be  his  aim,  folly  must  have  been  his  counsel 
lor.  He  is  too  sagacious  to  take  advice  of  such  a  counsellor. 
What  then  is  left  for  inference?  That  in  the  opinion  of  the 
Secretary  the  power  of  the  executive  is  such,  as  it  relates  to 
the  object  of  his  ambition,  that  it  is  more  than  sufficient  to 
compensate  his  loss  of  popularity ;  or  that  the  road  to  the 
Presidency  is  not  by  the  voice  of  the  people,  but  by  the  power 
of  the  Executive.  Has  not  every  act  of  the  President  and  the 
Secretary  conformed  to  this  theory?  I  need  not  particularize, 
for  it  seems  not  even  contradicted,  that  offices  are  bestowed  to 
make  partisans,  and  for  that  purpose  only.  If  such  in  fact 
be  the  true  state  of  things,  it  is  manifest  that  a  most  fatal 
blow  is  aimed  at  liberty,  not  with  a  view  to  destroy  liberty, 
but  to  acquire  power;  and  as  this  is  seen  and  understood,  we 
must  not  be  surprised,  that  our  publick  counsels  should  be  deeply 
agitated.  The  struggle,  I  do  believe,  is  between  liberty  and 


30     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

power ;  and  as  I  have  taken  my  side  fearlessly,  I  must  expect 
the  natural  consequences,  bitter  and  deep  denunciations.  Who 
ever  opposed  power  without  encountering  such  or  worse  con 
sequences?  I  am  content.  I  am  prepared  to  fall  or  rise  with 
the  cause.  It  is  with  me  an  old  cause.  In  opposing  the 
caucus,  the  choice  of  electors  by  state  legislatures,  the  control 
of  juntas,  or  political  leaders,  I  was  actuated  by  the  princi 
ples  that  now  guide  me.  It  has  ever  been  the  object  dearest 
to  me  to  procure  the  ascendency  of  the  popular  voice  in  our 
system ;  and  next  to  it,  to  give  a  wise  direction  to  movements 
of  the  government  so  as  to  fulfil  the  object  of  its  creation. 
Wherever  these  great  objects  lead,  there  will  I  ever  be  found. 
"  With  sincere  regard, 
"  I  am, 

"  J.  C.  CALHOUN." 

"  PENDLETON,  2Oth  Sept.,  1826. 
"  To  HON.  M.  STERLING, 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  read  with  much  interest  your  letter 
of  the  4th  of  August,  in  most  of  the  views  of  which  I 
entirely  accord.  I  have  had  a  severe  process  to  go  through ; 
but,  I  trust,  I  have  passed  it  like  one  conscious  of  having  truth 
and  duty  on  his  side.  It  does  seem  to  me,  that  the  great  point 
of  attack,  I  mean  the  discussion  on  order  in  the  Senate,  was 
selected  by  my  opponents  merely  with  a  view  to  temporary 
advantage,  without  looking  to  remote  consequences.  That  my 
decision  was  right,  and  that  the  principles  on  which  it  rests 
are  indispensable  to  the  preservation  of  the  freedom  of  debate 
cannot  be  doubted  by  anyone,  who  will  take  the  trouble  calmly 
to  weight  the  arguments.  That  such  is  the  impression  through 
the  whole  South,  I  do  not  doubt ;  and,  if  it  is  not  that  of  the 
North  now,  it  must  finally  be.  You  know  the  deep  confidence, 
which  I  have  ever  reposed  in  the  force  of  truth,  and  that  I  have 
ever  moved  in  the  path,  which  I  conceived  that  it  directed. 
I  feel  no  diminution  of  this  confidence  notwithstanding  the 
success  of  my  opponents  in  making  an  impression  against  me 
in  the  first  instance.  Of  nothing  am  I  more  certain  than  that 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       31 

ultimately,  I  will  be  (for  all  that  has  occurred),  more  deeply 
fixed  in  the  good  opinion  of  the  people.  To  the  South,  my 
course  has  been  almost  unanimously  supported.  I  do  not  in 
the  least  doubt,  but  that  the  present  political  state  of  things 
will  terminate  in  three  years.  It  ought.  The  blow  struck  at 
the  principles  of  the  government,  if  not  parried,  must  prove 
fatal.  The  highest  power,  and  that  on  which  all  others  are 
dependent  must  not  be  disposed  of  by  the  coalition,  or  manage 
ment  of  politicians.  It  must  be  by  the  gift  of  the  people.  If 
not,  our  system  will  prove  in  time  the  most  corrupt  that  ever 
existed.  The  richest  body  becomes  the  most  putrid  in  a  de 
cayed  state,  so  the  best  system,  if  the  vital  principle  departs, 
becomes  the  most  corrupt.  Of  this  you  have  had  some  ex 
perience  in  New  York ;  and,  if  there,  where  the  patronage  is 
small  and  the  objects  inconsiderable,  such  be  the  fruits,  what 
think  you  must  it  be  in  the  disposition  of  the  millions  of  the 
Union,  with  all  of  its  honors? 

"  For  acting  on  these  views,  I  have  been  denounced.  Let 
them  denounce !  It  is  no  more  than  what  I  expected,  and  only 
proves,  how  strong  the  principle  of  corruption  has  already 
taken  hold.  My  oppositon  to  the  Congress  caucus  and  the 
coalition  rests  on  the  same  great  principle,  and  I  am  prepared 
to  bear  in  so  great  a  cause. 

"  We  find  the  climate  here  under  our  mountains  delightful. 
We  are  all  well ;  and  Mrs.  C—  -  and  her  mother  desire  their 

best  respects  to  you.  Make  mine  to  Mrs.  S .  How  is  J.  C. 

Sterling?  "  J.  C.  C. 

"  I  will  rejoice  to  see  P —  -  and  your  brother  again  in  Con 
gress.  If  you  write  to  either  make  my  best  respects  to  them." 

"  FORT  HILL,  i6th  Oct.,  1846. 
"  MY  DEAR  ANDREW  : 

"  Your  letters  of  the  i6th  and  24th  of  last,  month  came 
by  the  same  mail,  a  week  since,  and  brought  the  agree 
able  intelligence  of  the  continued  and  uninterrupted  good 
nealth  of  the  place,  to  a  period  so  late,  that  I  hope  all 
danger  has  passed.  The  severe  trial  of  the  year,  acknowledged 


32     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

to  be  one  of  the  most  sickly,  gives  good  ground  to  believe  that 
you  have  had  the  good  fortune  of  selecting  a  spot,  combining 
the  rare  advantages  of  a  low  latitude,  great  fertility  and  good 
health.  It  is  difficult  to  say  how  much  value  it  adds  to  the  place. 
The  continuance  of  the  health  of  yourself  and  family  and 
the  complete  restoration  of  Patrick's,  of  which  I  learned  by 
his  last  letter,  relieved  me  from  much  anxiety.  I  am  glad  to 
hear  that  your  prospect  of  a  cotton  crop  continues  so  good,  and 
that  you  have  suffered  comparatively  little  by  the  worm,  whose 
ravages  I  hope  have  stopped  ere  this.  There  are  some  in 
dications  of  them  in  my  cotton,  and  I  understand  they  have 
done  much  mischief  in  the  State.  If  the  accounts  from  Florida 
are  to  be  trusted  they  have  done  more  damage  there  than  any 
where  else.  Taking  it  altogether  the  prospect  is  a  short  crop 
and  good  prices. 

"  Our  election  is  over.  Butler  is  elected  by  a  small  majority 
(147)  owing  to  a  division  of  the  vote  between  Norris  and 
Powell,  the  latter  of  whom  could  not  be  induced  to  withdraw. 
Haygood  (Federal)  beat  Barton,  Republican  by  14  only  for 
the  State  Senate.  It  is  said  the  election  will  be  contested,  on 
account  of  bad  votes.  Your  Uncle  John,  who  was  also  a 
candidate,  got  less  than  200  votes.  The  Harrison  Federal 
party  carried  in  this  district  all  their  candidates  except  one  to 
the  House  of  Representatives,  Col.  Hunter.  In  Greenville, 
the  opposite  ticket  prevailed  throughout  by  a  large  majority. 
I  have  not  heard  from  the  other  parts  of  the  State  yet.  There 
is  no  doubt,  however,  of  almost  perfect  union  in  the  State. 

"  I  am  waiting  according  to  your  advice  for  frost  before  I 
set  out.  As  yet  we  have  had  none  though  a  great  deal  of  cool 
weather.  It  is  now  raining  and  has  been  for  the  last  fifteen 
hours  with  a  prospect  of  continuing  as  much  longer.  The 
probability  is  it  will  be  followed  by  cold  weather  and  frost. 
If  it  should,  I  will  lose  no  time  in  setting  out.  I  cannot  fix 
the  day,  as  that  depends  on  the  weather.  Should  it  turn  cold 
enough  for  frost,  you  may  send  your  carriage  to  Selma,  in 
time  for  me  to  get  there  going  by  Dahlonega  and  allowing  one 
or  two  days  on  the  road.  I  will  take  the  stage  to  there  and 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       33 

thence  by  the  nearest  and  quickest  stage  routes.  You  need 
not  send  before  frost,  as  I  do  not  think  it  would  be  prudent  to 
venture  before.  John  will  probably  accompany  me. 

"  As  I  hope  it  will  be  but  a  short  time  before  we  meet,  I 
will  postpone  what  I  had  to  say  on  politics  and  other  subjects 
till  then.  All  join  in  sending  their  love  to  you  and  Mar 
garet.  I  am  glad  to  hear  that  Duff  thrives  so  well  and  is  so 
promising,  I  shall  be  quite  curious  to  see  him. 

"  Your  affectionate  father, 

"JOHN  C.  CALHOUN. 

"  A.  P.  CALHOUN,  ESQ." 

An  account  of  the  meeting  which  was  held  at  Georgetown 
during  "  Court  Week,"  in  the  spring  of  1848,  to  elect  a  dele 
gate  to  the  Democratic  National  Convention  at  Baltimore  is 
now  in  order,  and  for  a  proper  understanding  of  this  meeting 
a  word  regarding  the  judicial  organization  of  South  Carolina 
is  necessary.  The  State  was  divided  into  judicial  districts  (in 
stead  of  counties)  in  which  courts  were  held  semi-annually. 
Court  week,  as  it  was  called,  came  to  be  a  time  for  the  as 
sembling  not  only  of  jurors,  lawyers,  and  litigants,  but  also  of 
the  commissioners  having  charge  of  the  various  public  de 
partments  (such  as  roads  and  charities),  and  of  public  men 
generally,  for  civic  and  political  purposes.  In  short,  court 
week  served  to  bring  together,  semi-annually,  the  leading  citi 
zens,  many  of  them  country  gentlemen,  of  a  large  district. 
Although  my  friends  and  I  had  actively  agitated,  by  newspaper 
paragraphs  and  personal  letters,  the  necessity  of  electing  a 
delegate  to  the  National  Convention  at  this  time,  we  had 
evoked  no  response  beyond  a  half-hearted  admission  of  the 
propriety  of  the  proceeding,  by  reason  of  a  widespread  fear 
of  the  attitude  of  the  Charleston  and  Columbia  Junta,  which 
four  years  before  had  actually  prevented  elected  delegates  from 
attending  the  convention.  We  had  to  resort,  therefore,  to  a 
harmless  trick  to  prevent  any  hostile  interruption,  and  had  ac 
cordingly  called  a  meeting  at  the  court  house  for  two  o'clock, 
which  was  the  hour  the  court  adjourned  for  dinner.  At  this 


34     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

hour  "  the  conspirators,"  as  we  were  called,  six  in  number, 
came  together :  Colonel  McKay,  president  of  the  bank ;  Eleazer 
Waterman,  a  shipping  merchant  and  proprietor  and  editor  of 
the  Winyah  Observer,  the  Union  organ;  William  J.  Howard, 
the  Clerk  of  the  Court  then  sitting;  General  James  M.  Com 
mander,  the  leader  of  the  cavalry  forces;  Dr.  O.  M.  Roberts, 
a  prominent  physician ;  and  myself. 

When  the  court  adjourned,  the  judge,  lawyers,  jurors,  and 
litigants,  although  leaving  their  seats,  remained  in  the  hall, 
which  was  packed  with  spectators  who  had  come  to  amuse 
themselves  with  the  ridiculous  failure  which  had  been  prog 
nosticated  for  the  meeting.  A  few  partisan  leaders  were  there, 
ready  to  antagonize  the  action  proposed  when  its  advocate 
should  have  delivered  his  address.  Immediately  after  the  ad 
journment  of  the  court  I  rose  with  youthful  assurance  and,  in 
a  most  patronizing  manner,  thanked  the  judge  for  his  courtesy 
in  adjourning  the  court  for  the  accommodation  of  the  meeting 
and  for  his  personal  presence  thereat,  it  being  highly  impor 
tant  for  Southern  interests  that  all  the  good  citizens  of  the 
State  should  participate  in  the  effort  to  co-operate  with  the 
other  Southern  States  in  a  national  convention.  I  then  said, 
"  Gentlemen,  this  meeting  has  been  called  specifically  and  solely 
for  the  purpose  of  selecting  a  delegate  to  represent  this  con 
gressional  district  in  the  Democratic  Convention  to  be  held  in 
Baltimore.  The  subject  has  been  largely  discussed  throughout 
the  district  by  our  journals,  as  well  as  orally,  and  this  large 
gathering  shows  how  thoroughly  this  Democratic  district  is  in 
accord  with  its  brethren  in  the  other  Southern  States  in  their 
desire  to  co-operate  in  protecting  the  interests  of  the  South 
in  the  Baltimore  Convention."  I  then  said  in  a  loud  voice,  "  I 
nominate  our  distinguished  fellow  citizen,  Dr.  O.  M.  Roberts, 
Chairman  of  this  meeting."  Col.  McKay  promptly  seconded 
the  nomination,  which  was  unanimously  carried  by  the  votes 
of  the  five  friends,  given  with  becoming  energy.  On  taking 
the  chair,  the  doctor  modestly  tendered  his  thanks  for  the 
honor,  and  then  said,  "  It  is  next  in  order  to  elect  a  secretary." 
Col.  McKay  nominated  my  old  friend  and  schoolmate  William 


OLD  SOUTH  CAROLINA  DAYS       35 

J.  Howard.  The  nomination  was  seconded  by  Mr.  Waterman, 
and  Mr.  Howard  was  elected  with  the  same  admirable  unan 
imity.  I  then  arose  and  nominated,  with  suitable  remarks, 
Gen.  James  M.  Commander  as  the  delegate  to  represent  the 
Congressional  district  in  the  Baltimore  convention.  This  was 
also  seconded  and  unanimously  approved  by  the  same  earnest 
supporters  of  the  cause.  Just  here  a  great  disappointment  came 
to  our  large  audience,  and  especially  to  a  few  orators  who  had 
been  waiting  for  an  opportunity  to  demoralize  the  meeting  as 
soon  as  the  usual  speeches  were  made  by  its  promoters.  I 
once  more  took  the  floor  and,  after  commending  the  officers 
for  their  services,  their  presence,  and  their  sympathy,  and  thank 
ing  the  judge  again  for  his  courtesy  in  favoring  us  with  his 
presence,  moved  that  the  meeting  be  adjourned  sine  die;  the 
motion  was  carried  with  the  former  unanimity,  and  the  throng 
dispersed  for  dinner.  We  congratulated  our  delegate  on  having 
the  honor  of  being  the  first  representative  from  the  State  to 
the  National  Convention.  The  politicians  had  been  taught  a 
valuable  lesson. 

I  went  to  Baltimore  a  day  or  two  before  the  assembling  of 
the  convention,  and  laid  before  the  delegations  from  the  other 
Southern  States  the  importance  of  the  movement  for  Southern 
co-operation,  and  suggested  that  as  General  Commander 
was  the  only  delegate  from  his  State,  it  was  both  proper  and 
politic  to  give  him  the  right  to  cast  the  nine  votes  to  which 
the  State  was  entitled.  In  this  I  was  sustained  by  most  of  the 
Northern  delegations  favoring  the  South.  The  reports  of  the 
contests  in  the  convention  created  much  amusement,  and 
when  General  Commander  was  called  on  to  vote  for  a  measure, 
or  a  candidate,  he  would  arise  with  great  dignity  and  in  a 
loud  voice  declare,  "  South  Carolina  casts  nine  votes  for  this 
measure  or  this  candidate."  It  was  this  which  led  John  Van 
Buren,  when  his  father  was  defeated  for  the  presidency  on 
the  Free  Soil  ticket,  to  say,  "It  is  humiliating  indeed  to  be 
-flogged  by  that  Carolina  cat  of  nine  tails  from  Georgetown, 
South  Carolina,  wielding  the  suffrage  of  his  whole  State  against 
its  aristocracy." 


CHAPTER    II 

OLD    NEW    YORK    DAYS 

DURING  my  visits  to  the  North  I  had  the  pleasure  of  being 
entertained,  on  various  occasions,  by  two  merchant  princes 
and  neighbors  doing  business  in  New  York  and  residing  on 
Pierrepont  Street,  Brooklyn  Heights, — Edward  Anthony  and 
George  Hastings.  Mr.  Hastings  was  the  intimate  friend  of 
Dr.  Vinton,  and  the  senior  warden  of  his  Brooklyn  church. 
Mr.  Hastings'  palatial  residence  was  among  the  first  of  the 
modern  Gothic  structures  in  the  Heights  district ;  visitors  were 
constantly  calling  to  examine  it,  and  my  room  was  exhibited 
as  their  guest  chamber.  Mr.  Anthony  (originally  from  Rhode 
Island  and  the  brother  of  Senator  Anthony)  and  his  lovely 
Philadelphia  Quaker  wife  were  social  leaders  in  that  part  of 
Brooklyn.  I  remember  as  one  of  Mr.  Anthony's  intimate 
friends,  the  Rev.  Dr.  Samuel  H.  Cox,  father  of  Bishop  Cox, 
the  learned  and  genial  pastor  of  the  leading  Presbyterian 
church  in  New  York,  who  was  obliged  to  resign  his  charge 
because  of  his  violent  Abolition  addresses  and  sermons. 
Among  the  many  pleasant  personages  I  met  at  the  home  of 
Mr.  Anthony  was  Mr.  Joseph  C.  Neal,  editor  and  publisher 
of  the  celebrated  Neat's  Gazette,  and  author  of  a  variety 
of  social  studies,  of  which  the  "  Charcoal  Sketches  "  is  yet 
esteemed  by  many  for  its  philosophy  and  wit.  Mr.  Neal  was 
a  delightful  companion  and  a  most  fascinating  correspondent, 
as  may  be  inferred  from  the  fact  that  his  courtship  with  his 
accomplished  wife  was  entirely  by  letter.  This  lady  was  edu 
cated  at  the  celebrated  Female  Seminary  in  Troy,  N.  Y., 
and  while  still  at  school  ventured  to  send  Mr.  Neal's  paper 
a  poetical  composition  anonymously.  This  led  to  a  literary 
correspondence  ending  in  a  marriage.  After  Mr.  Neal's  death, 
Mrs.  Neal  continued  the  publication  of  the  Gazette  for  many 

36 


OLD    NEW    YORK    DAYS  37 

years  with  great  success,  and  wrote  besides  many  amusing 
works. 

In  the  autumn  of  1842  I  witnessed  the  grand  celebration 
in  honor  of  the  introduction  of  Croton  water  into  the  city 
of  New  York,  a  celebration  which  New  York  has  probably 
never  equaled  since.  The  day  was  superb.  Not  only  was  the 
whole  population  in  the  streets,  but  all  the  surrounding  cities 
seemed  to  have  joined  in  the  festivities.  The  procession  ex 
tended  over  five  miles.  In  addition  to  the  various  military 
regiments,  were  some  fifty  fire  companies  with  red  shirts, 
gorgeous  engines,  and  brilliant  banners,  and  mechanical  so 
cieties  with  their  respective  implements  of  industry — the 
printers  being  engaged  in  printing  a  programme  of  the  cele 
bration  on  their  presses,  one  of  which  was  the  identical  hand- 
press  used  by  Benjamin  Franklin.  The  butchers,  all  mounted 
on  fine  horses,  presented  a  remarkable  aspect. 

In  1899  I  witnessed  the  tearing  down  of  the  noble  stone 
Reservoir  at  Fifth  Avenue  and  Fortieth,  Forty-first  and  Forty- 
second  Streets,  to  make  room  for  the  proposed  Public  Library 
edifice,  which  it  is  to  be  hoped  will  survive  more  than  sixty 
years  in  this  city  of  change. 

Thus  the  landmarks  of  one's  life  are  destroyed.  Nothing 
is  respected  in  New  York  by  the  onward  march  of  trade,  not 
even  the  churches ;  and  the  elaborate  exercises  of  laying  their 
corner  stones  and  the  sacred  ceremonies  of  their  dedication 
to  the  \vorship  of  Almighty  God,  should  include  this  proviso : 
"  till  the  property  becomes  more  valuable  for  trade  than  for 
Christian  worship." 

Many  timid  citizens  had  serious  misgivings  regarding  the 
large  bonded  debt  which  the  Croton  system  necessitated. 
Could  they  be  here  now  to  see  that  this  municipal  property 
produces  a  good  deal  over  a  million  of  dollars  of  income  to 
the  city,  besides  serving  its  convenience  and  security,  they 
would  quickly  recognize  the  fallacy  of  their  early  views. 
The  wisdom  of  public  improvements  like  this  and  the  Central 
Park,  which  may  well  challenge  the  admiration  of  the  world, 
was  largely  questioned  when  they  were  projected,  by  the  over- 


38     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

conservative  taxpayers.  I  must  admit  that  I  myself  was  short 
sighted  enough  not  to  approve  of  the  project  for  Central 
Park  (though  I  did  not  actually  oppose  it),  and  now  I  regard 
my  residence  opposite  this  park  as  my  most  precious  pos 
session. 

In  1846,  the  year  of  my  marriage,  to  which  reference  has 
already  been  made,  Bond  Street  was  almost  exclusively  a 
social  center.  It  extended  from  Broadway  to  the  Bowery, 
a  single  long  block  in  which  lived  Dr.  John  W.  Francis ;  Rev. 
Dr.  Spring;  C.  M.  Thurston,  the  banker ;  General  Dix ;  Ex-Post 
master  Coddington ;  Ex-Collector  of  the  port  of  New  York 
Morgan;  the  Pell  family;  the  Ward  family  (including  the 
celebrated  Julia  Ward  Howe,  daughter  of  the  banker  and 
society  leader  Samuel  Ward)  ;  the  Sampson  family,  among 
the  first  to  have  a  picture  gallery  in  New  York;  the  brothers 
Parmly ;  the  popular  Guilbert  Davis,  called  by  his  sporting 
friends  "  Governor  of  Coney  Island  " ;  and  George  Griffin,  a 
lawyer  whose  talented  daughter  married  General  Veile.  I 
have  the  pleasantest  recollection  of  my  relations  with  the 
statesman  and  soldier.  General  John  A.  Dix,  and  his  accom 
plished  wife,  who  were  the  intimate  and  valued  friends  and 
neighbors  of  my  wife's  family,  and  among  the  particular  guests 
at  my  wedding  breakfast. 

I  passed  many  delightful  hours  in  General  Dix's  library 
poring  over  his  architectural  and  horticultural  books  and  con 
sulting  him  with  regard  to  the  construction  of  a  cottage  villa 
which  I  chanced  to  be  planning  at  the  same  time  that  he  was 
planning  a  similar  summer  residence.  Gen.  Dix,  though  a 
very  busy  man,  found  time  for  the  appreciation  of  poetry, 
music,  and  art,  and  for  the  pleasures  of  society.  His  manners 
toward  all  classes  and  ages  were  of  the  gentlest ;  he  made 
even  children  forget  in  his  company  the  dignity  of  his  position. 

While  he  was  Minister  to  the  Court  of  the  Emperor  Louis 
Napoleon,  I  returned  one  cold,  rainy  day,  to  my  rooms  at 
my  hotel  in  Paris,  to  find  him  on  his  knees  in  front  of  the 
parlor  grate  blowing  the  dull  embers  of  the  fire  into  a  blaze. 
My  daughter  informed  me  that  the  General  had  called  shortly 


OLD    NEW   YORK   DAYS  39 

after  I  left  the  hotel,  and  that  they  had  persuaded  him  to 
remain  until  my  return.  The  amiable  visitor  had  picked  up 
from  the  table  a  copy  of  "  Alice  in  Wonderland  "  and  amused 
them,  not  only  by  reading,  but  by  illustrating  the  subject  for 
them.  The  fire  getting  low,  he  begged  them  not  to  ring  for 
the  servant,  as  he  would  fix  it  himself. 

General  Dix's  talented  son  (now  the  Rev.  Morgan  Dix, 
D.  D.,  Rector  of  Trinity  Church),  and  my  brother-in-law,  Dr. 
Henry  Thurston  (who  afterward  volunteered  as  a  surgeon  in 
the  Civil  War  and  died  soon  after  peace  was  declared,  through 
having  undermined  his  constitution  in  the  service),  were  in 
timate  friends  and  classmates.  Another  young  man  of  Bond 
Street  intimate  with  the  preceding  two  was  Col.  Ward — after 
ward  Gen.  Ward — who  led  the  Twelfth  Regiment  into  the 
field  in  defense  of  the  Union. 

I  must  not  forget  to  mention  in  this  connection  Ward  Mc 
Allister — afterward  the  greatly  beloved  leader  of  the  New 
York  "  four  hundred  " — a  modern  Beau  Brummell,  who  has 
left  no  worthy  successor. 

The  name  of  Dr.  Francis  cannot  be  passed  over  lightly  in 
any  account  of  the  Bond  Street  of  the  forties.  Indeed  I  pride 
myself  on  being  able  to  name  him  among  my  especial  Bond 
Street  friends.  The  genial  weakness  of  believing  himself  to 
look  like  Franklin  was  often  attributed  to  Dr.  Francis ;  and, 
indeed,  he  did  resemble  that  great  philosopher  not  only  in 
his  outward  appearance,  but  in  the  character  of  his  intellect. 
He  was  a  valued  friend  of  Washington  Irving,  Daniel  Web 
ster,  Prescott  Hall,  Philip  Hone,  Fenimore  Cooper,  Evert  A. 
Duyckinck,  James  G.  King  the  banker,  Chancellor  Kent,  Bishop 
Wainwright,  and  General  Dix.  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meet 
ing  in  Dr.  Francis'  hospitable  parlor  and  dining  room  most 
of  these  celebrated  men ;  but  I  was  too  young  at  that  time 
to  contract  any  degree  of  intimacy  with  the  majority  of  them. 
I  recall  with  profit,  however,  many  of  their  opinions  on  the 
questions  of  that  period ;  for  such  groups  as  frequented  the 
house  of  Dr.  Francis  did  not  occupy  the  time  with  discussions 
of  the  stock  exchange  or  the  probable  success  of  political 


40     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

parties.  Indeed,  machine  politics  and  party  bosses  had  not 
yet  taken  the  place  of  the  Albany  Regency  and  Tammany 
Hall. 

There  was  an  intimacy  between  the  families  of  this  Bond 
Street  group  which  no  longer  exists  in  any  group  in  New 
York.  They  had  settled  on  property  intended  to  be  kept 
free  by  carefully-drawn  titles  from  all  business  occupancy. 
The  houses  were  brick  and  marble,  and  were  of  the  most  ornate 
character.  Back  of  each  was  a  stable  fronting  on  an  alleyway 
for  the  use  of  the  carriages  and  the  servants.  A  few  years 
after  my  marriage,  in  the  very  same  parlor  of  No.  7  Bond 
Street  in  which  I  received  the  wedding  guests,  I  stood  to 
be  measured  for  a  suit  of  clothes  by  a  fashionable  tailor  who 
had  acquired  the  property  as  a  valuable  stand  for  business, 
in  derogation  of  the  exclusion  of  trade  in  the  title.  The  failure 
of  this  attempt  at  exclusiveness  shows  the  futility  of  trying 
to  tie  up  property  for  any  purpose  whatsoever  in  a  mercantile 
city  like  New  York,  where  the  churches  dedicated  to  Almighty 
God  are  but  leaseholds  pending  a  rise  in  the  market  value 
of  lots  for  business. 

New  York  society,  Bond  Street  apart,  in  the  early  forties 
was  made  up  mainly  of  families  of  professional  men  and 
merchants  of  Dutch  and  English  ancestry. 

The  leading  citizens  of  this  period — as  I  recall  them — 
were  Charles  A.  Davis,  D.  S.  Kennedy,  S.  P.  Gerard,  Moses 
H.  Grinnel,  S.  B.  Ruggles,  R.  H.  Blatchford,  John  Ward, 
Samuel  Ward,  Simon  Draper,  Charles  H.  Russell,  Ogden 
Hoffman,  James  W.  Gerard,  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis,  Edward 
Curtis,  General  John  A.  Dix,  Robert  B.  Minturn,  Philip  Hone, 
Prosper  M.  Whitmore,  Philip  Van  Rensselaer,  Daniel  Lord, 
Jr.,  James  T.  Brady,  John  Van  Buren,  Charles  O'Conor, 
Francis  B.  Cutting,  John  Duer,  Chancellor  Kent,  George 
Griffin,  Charles  Clinton,  Thomas  Tillotson,  William  B.  Astor, 
Albert  Gallatin,  John  Jay,  W.  H.  Aspinwall,  Rev.  Dr.  Wain- 
wright,  George  Griswold,  James  Brown,  George  Wood,  Abra 
ham  Ogden,  Jonathan  Goodhue,  David  B.  Ogden,  Frederick 
de  Pevster,  Robert  Ray,  Frederick  Prime,  and  James  G.  King. 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  41 

It  was  their  custom  to  dine  together  rather  informally  in 
little  congenial  parties,  and  they  talked  not  of  stocks  and  the 
latest  fads  of  the  fashionables,  but  of  science,  literature,  the 
drama,  and  public  affairs.  The  vulgar  term  "  boss  "  did  not 
then  exist,  nor  did  any  party  recognizing  ring  domination. 
Being  an  earnest  Democrat,  I  found  myself  much  alone,  for 
the  Whigs  regarded  themselves  as  the  respectable  part  of 
these  gatherings,  and  a  Tammany  Democrat  had  to  give  other 
vouchers  than  his  party  affiliations  for  his  respectability.  I 
recall  an  illustration  of  this  attitude  given  at  one  of  these 
dinners  by  a  distinguished  Democrat.  He  was  riding  in  a 
stage  coach  with  Henry  Clay,  he  said,  when  a  discussion  arose 
as  to  the  relative  respectability  of  the  political  parties  of  the 
day.  Upon  looking  out  of  the  window,  Mr.  Clay  espied  a 
drunken  man,  whom  he  fancied  to  be  a  frail  Democrat  strag 
gling  along  the  road.  He  stopped  the  stage  and  said,  "  My 
good  fellow,  we  have  a  bet  here  as  to  your  politics."  The 
man,  true  to  the  reputation  of  the  Whig  party  for  moral  ele 
vation,  stutteringly  replied,  "  I  am  sorry,  gentlemen,  to  admit, 
while  in  this  state,  that  I  am  a  Whig." 

The  prominent  capitalists  of  this  period  were  content  with 
their  modest  fortunes,  and  would  have  scorned  to  increase 
them  by  the  corrupt  practices  of  the  adventurers  of  to-day 
who,  by  legislative  frauds,  seize  the  land  and  capital  of  the 
people.  The  Goulds  and  the  Vanderbilts  had  not  yet  reaped 
the  harvests  of  their  successful  but  scantly  honest  specula 
tions.  Indeed,  Cornelius  Vanderbilt  was  still  the  captain  of 
a  steamboat  running  to  Newport  and  elsewhere.  The  Astors 
and  the  Goelets  were  already  the  millionaires  of  New  York, 
having  inherited  fortunes  derived  from  the  wonderful  advance 
in  land  values ;  but  even  the  Astor  estate  could  not  have  com 
pared  in  magnitude  with  those  of  the  railway  and  mining  mil 
lionaires  of  the  present.  August  Belmont  was  just  emerging 
from  the  agency  of  a  French  banking  house  and  entering  so 
ciety  with  the  glamorous  reputation  of  having  been  wounded 
in  a  duel  with  a  young  Southerner. 

Robert  L.  Stewart  was  laying  the  foundation  of  his  wealth 


42     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

by  manufacturing  and  selling  pure  candy  to  the  rising  genera 
tion.  Peter  Cooper,  now  the  most  loved  and  cherished  of 
all  these  men  of  affairs,  was  just  beginning,  by  his  glue  factory, 
his  iron  mines,  and  his  foundry,  to  amass  that  fortune  by 
means  of  which  thousands  of  young  men  and  women  have 
been  prepared  for  useful  careers.  A.  T.  Stewart  had  just 
finished  his  palatial  marble  dry  goods  store  at  the  corner  of 
Chambers  Street  and  Broadway  and  was  rapidly  acquiring 
his  title  of  "  the  merchant  prince  "  by  a  broad  and  well-ma 
tured  business  policy.  Mr.  Stewart  originally  lived  in  De  Pau 
Row,  as  it  was  called,  in  Bleecker  Street.  Later  he  purchased 
the  northern  Fifth  Avenue  corner  of  East  Thirty-fourth  Street. 
The  corresponding  corner  of  West  Thirty-fourth  Street  across 
the  Avenue  was  occupied  by  a  rather  palatial  dwelling  erected 
by  a  retired  dealer  in  notions.  Shortly  after  this  mansion  was 
finished,  I  was  walking  down  town  with  a  friend,  who  re 
marked  that  he  would  like  to  see  the  interior.  "  We  will  go 
right  in,"  I  said ;  "  a  gentleman  who  builds  so  fine  a  house 
will  surely  be  flattered  by  a  request  to  visit  it."  The  bell 
brought  to  the  door  the  owner,  who  promptly  expressed  his 
willingness  to  gratify  our  curiosity,  and  when  we  entered  the 
vaulted  music-room  he  gave  us  a  specimen  of  its  acoustic  prop 
erties  by  singing  in  a  very  loud,  cathedral  voice  a  stanza  of  the 
Doxology — a  selection  which  he  explained  to  us  was  quite 
in  character,  since  his  wife  was  the  daughter  of  a  Bishop. 
Mr.  Stewart  subsequently  purchased  this  property  with  the 
intention  of  making  additions  and  improvements ;  but  on  find 
ing,  after  he  had  spent  considerable  money,  that  the  walls 
were  settling  because  the  foundation  was  defective,  he 
determined  to  buy  more  land  and  erect  thereon  a  veritable 
palace. 

About  this  time  he  visited  the  ornate  marble  store  which 
our  mutual  friend,  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  had  just  completed  down 
town,  and  was  so  pleased  with  it  that  he  requested  Mr.  Hunt 
to  send  him  his  architect,  who  was  then  engaged  in  building 
the  expensive  marble  court  house  which  cost  the  city  so  dear 
by  reason  of  the  machinations  of  the  Tweed  Ring.  The  archi- 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  43 

tect  at  Mr.  Stewart's  request  drew  up  a  plan  for  a  dwelling 
and  presented  it.  "  Is  that  the  best  you  can  do  for  a  fine 
mansion  ?  "  asked  Mr.  Stewart. 

"  Oh,  not  at  all.  I  could  design  a  palace  if  you  were  willing 
to  build  it." 

"  Very  well,  let  me  see  your  taste." 

In  a  few  days  the  architect  presented  another  plan.  "  Now 
that  is  something  like.  What  will  it  cost?" 

"  I  can  hardly  tell  that,"  said  the  architect,  "  without  care 
fully  estimating." 

"  See  what  you  can  do  for  a  million." 

"  Oh !  that  would  be  ample,"  replied  the  delighted  architect, 
and  the  million-dollar  house  was  built. 

My  acquaintance  with  Mr.  Stewart  originated  in  business 
dealings  with  him  before  I  removed  from  South  Carolina. 

In  his  business  Mr.  Stewart  had  a  marvelous  memory  for 
details.  I  was  one  day  leaving  his  store  with  my  wife  when 
he  accosted  her,  saying,  "  I  hope,  Mrs.  Lathers,  you  have 
found  what  you  came  for."  "  No,  Mr.  Stewart,"  she  replied ; 
"  I  wanted  a  very  plain  Brussels  carpet  for  a  small  library, 
light  color  with  a  small  blue  figure,  but  while  you  have  a  great 
variety,  you  have  nothing  of  that  description."  He  replied, 
"  I  am  quite  sure  we  have  one  of  that  exact  description,"  and 
turning  to  a  clerk  he  said,  "  Go  to  the  third  floor  and  get 
out  from  the  last  invoice  of  carpets  No.  2206.  I  think  the 
style  and  pattern  will  just  meet  the  description  of  this  lady." 
And  it  did  exactly,  to  our  unbounded  surprise. 

In  going  from  my  country  place  to  business  by  the  New 
Haven  Railroad,  I  often  walked  from  the  Grand  Central  Depot 
as  far  as  Mr.  Stewart's  immense  dry  goods  palace  opposite 
Grace  Church  in  Broadway.  I  would  wait  for  him  there  while 
he  gave  his  morning  directions  to  his  clerks,  after  which  I 
would  ride  down  to  his  Chambers  Street  store  with  him,  whence 
his  driver  would  take  me  to  my  William  Street  office.  On 
one  of  these  occasions,  amazed  by  the  ease  and  expedition  with 
which  he  dispatched  his  varied  duties,  I  remarked,  as  we 
entered  the  carriage,  "  Mr.  Stewart,  it  must  sometimes  make 


44     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

you  feel  sad  to  reflect  that  this  stupendous  and  unique  busi 
ness  structure  must  be  lost  to  the  public  when  you  pass  away." 
"  Oh,  no,"  he  replied,  "  not  at  all ;  the  business  will  be  con 
tinued  in  accordance  with  my  plans."  I  said,  "  Mr.  Stewart, 
I  do  not  want  to  be  guilty  of  offering  you  the  commonplace 
compliment  of  intimating  that  you  are  the  only  man  possessed 
of  so  much  mercantile  ability.  I  only  meant  that  it  would  be 
difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  another  man  with  the  ca 
pacity,  taste,  and  capital  necessary  for  a  business  the  magni 
tude  and  success  of  which  are  unequaled  in  any  country." 
"  Yes,"  he  replied,  "  that  may  be  so,  but  you  forget  that  the 
machine  is  made,  and  I  have  the  engineer  ready  to  take  my 
place."  "  I  am  aware,"  I  replied,  "  that  you  refer  to  Judge 
Hilton.  He  is  a  clever  lawyer,  but  trade  demands  other  quali 
fications  besides  legal  ability,  and  first  among  these  is  experi 
ence."  "  Well,"  replied  Mr.  Stewart,  "  that  is  just  what,  as 
an  apt  scholar,  Judge  Hilton  is  acquiring,  and  the  art  of 
trading  is  simple.  Perhaps  you  would  like  to  know  how  I 
laid  the  foundation  of  my  success."  I  replied  that  I  would. 
"  Then  I  will  tell  you,"  said  he.  "  It  was  by  doing  exactly 
the  opposite  of  what  you  have  probably  done ;  for  instance, 
when  you  have  a  consignment  of  cotton,  rice,  or  sugar,  to 
sell,  how  do  you  manage?"  "Why,  of  course,"  I  replied, 
"  I  ask  the  highest  price  the  market  will  bear."  "  That  is  not 
my  habit,"  said  Mr.  Stewart.  "  I  study  to  put  my  goods  on 
the  market  at  the  lowest  price  I  can  afford  and  secure  a  rea 
sonable  profit.  In  this  way  I  limit  competition  and  increase 
my  sales ;  and,  although  I  realize  only  a  small  profit  on  each 
sale,  the  enlarged  area  of  business  thus  secured  makes  possible 
a  great  accumulation  of  capital  and  assures  the  future." 

Mr.  Stewart's  uncle  had  educated  him  for  the  church,  but 
on  finishing  his  studies  he  requested  his  uncle — so  he  had  told 
me — to  aid  him  with  a  little  capital  in  order  that  he  might  buy 
Irish  linens,  laces,  insertions,  and  other  dress  trimmings  to 
be  sold  in  America.  His  success  was  immediate.  He  opened 
a  small  store  in  Greenwich  Street,  displaying  his  Irish  fabrics, 
along  with  some  domestic  calicoes,  which  he  purchased  on  the 


OLD    NEW   YORK   DAYS  45 

eastern  side  of  the  city  and  carried  to  his  store  on  his  own 
shoulders ;  for  goods  at  that  time  were  not  delivered  by  the 
seller,  and  he  wished  to  save  cartage.  After  a  year  of  good 
business  his  landlord  advanced  his  rent.  He  threatened  to 
surrender  the  premises,  but,  deciding  that  the  expense  of  mov 
ing  and  the  loss  of  trade  involved  would  be  greater  than  the 
increase  in  rent,  he  remained.  The  landlord  advanced  his 
rent  again  at  the  end  of  another  year,  and  this  time,  feeling 
that  he  was  being  imposed  on,  he  moved  to  Broadway,  nearly 
opposite  the  marble  building  on  the  corner  of  Chambers  Street, 
where  he  realized  a  large  part  of  his  enormous  fortune. 

While  he  was  still  in  his  little  Greenwich  Street  shop  he 
heard  his  salesman  one  day  inform  an  old  lady  that  the  calico 
there  before  them  cost  twenty-five  cents  a  yard,  but  that  he 
would  sell  it  to  her  at  twenty  cents.  Pleased  with  the  reduc 
tion,  the  old  lady  purchased  the  dress  pattern  and  retired, 
whereupon  Mr.  Stewart  said  to  the  salesman,  "  Jeemes,  is  it 
necessary  to  lie  to  do  our  business?"  "  Oh,"  said  the  sales 
man,  "  that  is  only  the  usage  in  dealing  with  the  accomplished 
shoppers  who  are  in  the  habit  of  beating  down."  "  Oh,  yes, 
I  know  it,"  said  Mr.  Stewart,  "  but  you  must  never  practice 
that  usage  in  my  store  again." 

How  ephemeral  is  all  this  mercantile  glory !  Mr.  Stewart 
left  a  magnificent  property,  and  yet,  in  twenty-five  years  after 
his  death,  both  his  fame  and  his  fortune  had  passed  away. 
His  very  grave  was  rifled,  and  his  body  has  never  been  re 
covered. 

In  August,  1896,  the  public  was  startled  by  the  announce 
ment  in  the  morning  papers  that  Hilton,  Hughes  &  Co.,  the 
successors  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co.,  had  made  an  assignment 
and  that  the  store  was  accordingly  closed.  My  fears  as  ex 
pressed  to  Mr.  Stewart  many  years  before  as  to  the  inability 
of  a  lawyer  to  fill  the  place  of  a  skillful,  experienced,  and  suc 
cessful  merchant,  were  thus  verified.  Ah,  '  tis  all  but  a  dream 
at  the  best!  Even  the  palatial  marble  residence  Mr.  Stewart 
built  for  himself  on  Fifth  Avenue  seems  predestined  to  mis 
fortune.  It  has  ceased  to  be  known  by  his  name,  and,  as 


46     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  Manhattan  Club,  is  for  some  reason  unsuccessful  and 
will  probably  be  abandoned. 

I  once  suggested  to  Mr.  Stewart,  half  in  jest  and  half  in 
earnest,  that  his  mansion  would  furnish  a  lasting  monument 
to  his  memory  if  he  would  will  it  to  the  city  as  a  mayoralty 
mansion.  But  he  replied  that  he  did  not  slave  in  business  to 
decorate  the  municipality. 

I  desire  here  to  call  attention  to  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  on 
Fourth  Avenue,  corner  of  Eighteenth  Street,  recently  closed. 
It  was  built  in  1848  by  Mr.  Ruggles,  a  prominent  and  enter 
prising  citizen.  Its  early  career  did  not  presage  its  later  popu 
larity.  It  was  considered  too  far  up  town  for  the  convenience 
of  business  men,  inasmuch  as  there  was  no  city  railway  and 
only  one  omnibus  line,  owned  by  Brower,  running  from  a  point 
in  Broadway  opposite  Bond  Street  to  the  Astor  House.  The 
fare  was  ten  cents.  There  were  no  straps  for  passengers  with 
out  seats,  and  no  gentleman  was  expected  to  enter  when  the 
seats  were  all  occupied. 

Under  its  first  lessee,  Mr.  Putnam,  the  Clarendon  was  by 
no  means  a  first-class  hostelry,  though  it  was  perfectly  re 
spectable.  The  table  waiters  were  raw  country  girls,  and  the 
cuisine  left  much  to  be  desired.  But  under  the  management 
of  Mr.  Kerner  (a  German  ex-steward  of  the  Union  Club), 
the  successor  of  Mr.  Putnam,  it  speedily  became  one  of  the 
finest  hotels  in  the  country.  The  table  service  was  exceedingly 
well  organized.  The  waiters  marched  from  the  pantry  in 
military  order  to  place  the  food  on  the  table  and,  after  re 
moving  the  covers  of  the  dishes,  marched  in  the  same  manner 
to  deposit  them  on  the  side  tables  before  waiting  on  the  guests. 
The  dinner  was  served  punctually  at  a  fixed  hour,  and  those 
not  present  at  any  course  lost  it — for  the  courses  were  brought 
on  with  as  much  regularity  as  at  a  private  dinner.  The  guests 
found  their  own  wines,  however,  and  courteously  exchanged 
with  one  another.  Chambermaids  and  hallboys  were  rewarded 
for  their  industry  and  fidelity  by  the  boarders,  but  tips  to 
table  waiters  were  unknown.  There  was  no  bar  or  cigar- 
stand  for  loungers,  and  no  stranger  was  expected  to  visit  the 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  47 

hotel  without  sending  his  card,  as  a  caller,  to  some  guest.  A 
couple  of  neatly  furnished  rooms  (minus  rocking  chairs,  then 
considered  a  rural  equipment),  adjoining  the  hall  were  de 
voted  to  smoking,  and  in  one  of  these  was  a  kind  of  counter 
with  a  marble  top  on  which  stood  a  few  tumblers  and  a 
receptacle  for  ice  water.  Under  this  counter  was  a  locked 
closet  containing  wines,  liquors,  and  cigars,  to  be  produced  by 
a  waiter  stationed  there  only  when  a  boarder  requested  them ; 
for  visitors  were  regarded  as  the  guests  of  their  friends,  and 
were  not  expected  to  call  for  or  pay  for  anything  in  the  way 
of  entertainment.  After  dinner,  and  after  the  theater,  these 
smoking  rooms  were  always  filled.  Among  the  prominent  per 
sons  to  be  found  smoking  and  taking  a  friendly  glass  together 
there  were  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  Ward  McAllister,  General  Han 
cock,  Governor  Hoffman,  Charles  Clinton,  George  B.  Doer, 
Dr.  Ellridge,  Prof.  E.  J.  Phelps,  Ex-President  Pierce,  Ex- 
Governor  Marshall,  Mr.  Adee,  Mr.  David  Jones,  Mr.  Rhine- 
lander,  and,  from  time  to  time,  such  diplomats  as  Lord 
Ellsmere,  Lord  Napier,  Sir  Edward  Thornton,  the  Russian 
Minister  Bodeska,  and  Baron  Steckel.  The  register  of  the 
hotel  shows  that  seven  diplomats  had  rooms  there  the  same 
night.  The  Grand  Duke  Alexis  of  Russia  visited  this  head 
quarters  of  international  goodfellowship  for  the  relaxation  of 
a  cigar  and  a  glass  of  the  best  wine  in  the  city  after  the  tire 
some  formalities  of  public  receptions.  This  fact  made  the 
Clarendon  popular  with  travelers  from  all  over  Europe,  and 
especially  from  England. 

In  the  ladies'  drawing  room  such  theatrical  and  operatic 
stars  as  Modjeska,  Clara  Louise  Kellogg,  Patti,  Gerster,  Ris- 
tori,  and  Albani  gave  complimentary  performances,  the  tickets 
to  which  were  highly  valued  as  keepsakes.  The  Clarendon 
became  the  fashionable  and  exclusive  place  for  wedding  break 
fasts.  Brown,  the  sexton  of  Grace  Church,  could  be  seen 
there  almost  any  night  studying  the  register  for  the  rich  and 
eligible  young  dancing  men  required  by  the  parvenu  balls. 
It  was  there  that  Ward  McAllister  laid  the  foundations  for 
the  organization  of  his  "  four  hundred." 


48     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

The  rooms  of  Mr.  Wilson  G.  Hunt  were  a  center  of  con 
servative  finance  by  reason  of  the  widespread  and  well-founded 
confidence  in  his  integrity  and  judgment  and  in  his  extensive 
means  of  acquiring  both  political  and  financial  information.  He 
was  a  director  of  many  of  the  richest  and  most  influential  cor 
porations  in  the  city;  the  trusted  adviser  of  such  capitalists 
as  the  Astors,  Peter  Cooper,  Vanderbilt,  A.  A.  Low,  Moses 
Taylor,  and  A.  T.  Stewart.  He  was  a  partisan  but  conserv 
ative  Democrat,  and  a  liberal  contributor  to  the  legitimate  ex 
penses  of  the  Democratic  party.  His  advice  was  respected  by 
both  the  Democratic  factions  until  the  advent  of  bossism.  A 
daily  list  of  the  callers  at  his  rooms  would  have  included 
nearly  every  name  prominent  in  the  finance,  philanthropy,  and 
religion  of  the  city.  He  was  not  often  imposed  upon,  yet  he 
could  not  always  escape,  for  he  was  not  sufficiently  suspicious. 
In  those  convivial  evenings  in  the  smoking  rooms,  one  of  the 
guests  became  very  popular  and  "  promoted  "  a  fraud  so  in 
geniously  that  he  lured  several  of  the  financial  experts,  among 
them  Mr.  Hunt,  to  take  an  interest  in  a  worthless  corpora 
tion.  Each  of  the  persons  approached  by  this  wolf  in  sheep's 
clothing  was  given  to  understand  that  he  was  receiving  a 
special  favor,  and  yet  when  he  quit  the  hotel  nearly  everyone 
found  himself  victimized.  Mr.  Hunt,  and  indeed  most  of  the 
old  guests,  ever  after  refused  to  visit  the  smoking  rooms.  In 
his  private  parlor,  where  he  received  all  his  callers  subsequent 
to  this  experience,  I  met  nearly  every  diplomat  and  states 
man  of  distinction  in  the  country,  and  nearly  every  solid  man 
of  New  York  during  the  frequent  calls  I  made  on  him  up 
to  a  few  days  before  his  death.  He  was  a  keen  observer,  but 
never  censorious.  He  was  most  liberal  to  others  and  especially 
to  unfortunate  friends,  while  almost  parsimonious  in  his  own 
expenditures.  An  old  merchant  called  upon  him,  when  I 
chanced  to  be  present,  with  a  subscription  book  for  some 
charity  with  which  he  did  not  sympathize.  Mr.  Hunt  said, 
"  Now  be  candid  with  me,  what  interest  have  you  in  collecting 
this  money?"  "Well,  my  old  friend,  to  tell  the  truth,  my 
necessities  induced  me  to  undertake  it  for  the  commission." 


WILSON  G.  HUNT 
From  a  print  made  about  1855 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  49 

Mr.  Hunt  then  said,  "What  is  your  commission?"  He  re 
plied,  "  Ten  per  cent."  Mr.  Hunt  said,  "  And  how  much 
am  I  assessed  for  by  these  books  ?  "  The  reply  was,  "  You 
appear  to  have  given  one  hundred  dollars  to  this  charity." 
"  Well,"  said  Mr.  Hunt,  u  here  is  ten  dollars,  your  commission, 
which  is  all  the  interest  I  have  in  that  charity."  He  then  turned 
to  me  and  said,  "  This  object  lesson  may  be  useful  to  you," 
and  it  has  been. 

One  afternoon  as  several  luxurious  carriages  stood  before 
the  door  of  the  hotel  to  take  the  well-dressed  ladies  and  their 
gentlemen  escorts  to  the  Central  Park  drive,  he  remarked  to 
me,  "  Did  it  ever  occur  to  you  that  you  and  I,  who  live  so 
modestly,  are  about  the  only  guests  in  this  hotel  who  have  a 
clear  income  to  return  to  the  United  States  for  Income  Tax 
assessment  ?  "  On  making  my  own  return  for  the  year,  I  was 
informed  that  Mr.  Hunt  was  right  by  the  assessor,  who  seemed 
to  be  puzzled  to  understand  how  the  display  which  the  guests 
of  our  hotel  made  could  be  supported  without  incomes. 

One  evening  in  the  smoking  room  many  cases  of  disappoint 
ment  over  the  disposition  of  the  political  spoils  by  the  recently 
elected  Whigs  were  cited.  Genial  Joe  Hoxie,  who  had  com 
posed  and  sung  with  great  effect  during  the  campaign  the 
song  "Tippecanoe  and  Tyler  Too,"  but  who  had  been  left 
out  in  the  cold  by  the  victors,  was  present  as  the  guest  of  his 
friend,  Mr.  Hunt.  He  took  the  matter  philosophically  and 
good-naturedly,  as  it  was  his  wont  to  take  everything. 
"  Blessed  are  those  who  don't  expect  anything,"  he  said,  "  for 
they  shall  not  be  disappointed." 

Mr.  Kerner,  our  host,  always  ready  to  illustrate  aptly  any 
subject  under  discussion,  informed  us  that  in  early  life  he  had 
suffered  disappointment  in  the  very  heyday  of  triumph,  and 
he  suggested  that  certain  of  his  Whig  friends  might  have  been 
similarly  disappointed  even  if  they  had  been  given  official 
positions.  "  I  had  enlisted  in  one  of  Napoleon's  army  corps," 
he  said,  "  and  on  the  termination  of  my  first  dress  parade  the 
Colonel  called  for  twelve  brave  volunteers  for  duty.  I  stepped 
briskly  to  the  front,  with  eleven  others,  proud  of  having  an 


50     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

opportunity  to  distinguish  myself.  The  Colonel  supplied  us 
with  a  portion  of  the  regiment's  band,  and  then  turned  us 
over  to  a  corporal,  who  marched  us  to  the  accompaniment  of 
an  inspiriting  military  tune  to  a  distant  part  of  our  camping 
ground  and  into  a  kind  of  barn,  where  we  were  ordered  to 
stack  arms  and  attack  with  knives  a  large  pile  of  potatoes 
that  were  waiting  to  be  pared  for  the  encampment's  dinner. 
The  paring  accomplished,  we  marched  back,  very  much  crest 
fallen,  to  the  great  amusement  of  the  veterans." 

Our  host  covered  his  disgrace  by  ordering  a  bottle  of  his 
best  German  wrine,  in  which  we  all  drank  his  health  and  that 
of  the  great  leader  of  whom  he  loved  to  talk,  Napoleon  Bona 
parte. 

Ex-Governor  Marcy  then  said :  "  On  taking  the  oath  of 
office  for  my  first  Gubernatorial  term,  I  went  into  the  State 
Department  with  some  political  friends  to  overhaul  my  of 
ficial  mail.  As  I  opened  each  letter  I  found  it  was  an  earnest 
application  for  an  office  or  a  contract.  My  friends  remarked 
that  my  early  official  correspondence  was  very  large.  I  an 
swered,  '  Yes,  they  all  seem  to  feel  that  "  to  the  victors  belong 
the  spoils."  :  This  was  immediately  used  by  the  press  as  an 
expression  of  my  own  opinion,  and  to  this  day  it  is  an  un 
settled  question  whether  my  administration  in  New  York  or 
that  of  General  Jackson  in  Washington  originated  the  now 
popular  slogan." 

One  of  our  guests  related  that  while  he  was  en  route  from 
Charleston  to  New  York  his  train  was  boarded  at  Baltimore 
by  a  number  of  the  Democratic  delegates  to  the  Convention 
held  in  that  city,  which  had  just  nominated  Mr.  Pierce  for 
the  Presidency,  an  outcome  which  was  a  surprise  to  many, 
for  Mr.  Pierce  was  not  at  that  time  as  favorably  known  as 
his  administration  subsequently  made  him.  Several  voices 
said,  "Who  is  Pierce?"  A  very  jovial  Western  member  of 
Congress  replied,  "  I  have  never  served  in  Congress  with  him, 
but  I  know  him  to  be  a  damned  good  fellow.  A  couple  of 
years  ago  I  was  a  guest  with  him  at  a  dinner  party  in  George 
town,  D.  C.,  from  which  four  of  us  determined  to  walk  back 


OLD    NEW   YORK   DAYS  51 

to  Washington,  in  order  to  enjoy  the  bright  moonlight  as  well 
as  to  take  the  air  after  indulging  in  the  fine  wines  of  our 
host.  As  we  were  crossing  the  Washington  Bridge,  my  com 
panion  and  I,  who  were  in  the  lead,  missed  Mr.  Pierce  and 
his  companion.  We  retraced  our  steps  about  two  hundred 
feet  and  found  that  an  accident  had  happened.  Mr.  Pierce's 
companion  had  fallen  into  a  hole  in  the  rotten  planking  cov 
ering  the  bridge,  but  had  been  saved  by  his  arms  from  falling 
into  the  river.  Mr.  Pierce  was  tugging  away  trying  to  lift 
the  unfortunate  up,  but  rinding  himself  unequal  to  the  task 
said  in  a  halting,  sympathetic  voice,  '  Old  fellow,  I  can't  get 
you  out  of  this  hole,  but  I  will  do  the  next  best  thing,  I  will 
get  in  with  you."  Ex-President  Pierce,  who  was  present,  re 
marked,  "  a  delightful  compliment,  but  the  incident  is  much 
exaggerated." 

During  the  winter  of  1855-56  Thackeray,  who  had  come  to 
New  York  to  deliver  his  lectures  on  the  Four  Georges,  was 
a  guest  at  the  Clarendon,  and  as  he  occupied  a  suite  adjoining 
that  of  my  family  and  was  fond  of  children,  he  frequently 
came  into  the  parlor  to  chat  and  relax  with  my  young  people, 
who  took  to  his  kindly  face  and  interesting  little  stories  wonder 
fully.  I  met  Thackeray  at  the  Century  Club  also,  where  we 
were  both  occasional  guests,  but  more  frequently  and  more 
informally  at  the  Saturday  night  supper  parties  in  the  base 
ment  of  the  residence  of  that  prince  of  good  fellows,  Evert 
A.  Duyckinck.  Here,  in  the  company  of  such  kindred  spirits 
as  Dr.  J.  W.  Francis,  Rev.  Dr.  Hawks,  the  poet  Fitz  Greene 
Halleck,  the  comedian  Hackett,  the  novelist  Herman  Melville, 
and  the  poet  and  traveler  Bayard  Taylor,  the  genial  nature 
of  Thackeray  fairly  radiated  cheer.  One  night  when  the  con 
versation  had  become  a  bit  free,  one  of  the  guests  (Judge 
O'Gorman,  I  think,  with  whom  I  was  very  intimate)  said, 
"  Thackeray,  where  did  you  get  your  model  for  Mrs.  Major 
O'Dowd  ?  Was  she  an  English  woman  ?  "  He  replied,  "  No, 
by  God,  she  was  Irish — my  mother-in-law — didn't  I  give  her 
hell !  But  she  was  a  gloriously  good  woman  after  all." 
Thackeray  was  himself  a  glorious  companion  on  these  glorious 


52     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

occasions  in  that  glorious  old  basement  of  my  glorious  old 
friend,  Evert  A.  Duyckinck. 

The  following  account  of  Mr.  Duyckinck  which  appeared 
in  one  of  the  New  York  papers  a  day  or  two  after  his  death 
in  1878  gives  a  better  idea  of  the  man  and  his  career  than  any 
thing  I  could  write: 

"  Evert  A.  Duyckinck,  whose  funeral  occurs  to-morrow 
from  the  historic  church  of  St.  Mark's-in-the-fields — as  its 
parish  name  still  remains — was  thirty  years  ago  one  of  the 
most  popular  and  esteemed  critics  of  the  day.  Lowell,  in  his 
'  Fable  for  Critics,'  published  in  1848,  thus  referred  to  him : 

"  Good-day,  Mr.  Duyckinck,  I  am  happy  to  meet 
With  a  scholar  so  ripe  and  a  critic  so  neat, 
Who  through  Grub  Street  the  soul  of  a  gentleman  carries 
What  news  from  the  suburb  of  London  and  Paris? 

"  Mr.  Duyckinck  was  descended  from  one  of  the  oldest 
Knickerbocker  families.  His  father,  Evert  Duyckinck,  was  one 
of  New  York's  pioneer  publishers  and  printers.  James  Harper 
was  one  of  his  journeymen.  The  name  of  Duyckinck,  or  Long 
&  Duycknick,  upon  any  book  was  (about  1814-1825)  a  guar 
antee  of  its  excellence  and  typographical  accuracy.  Evert 
Duyckinck  was  born  in  1816,  was  graduated  at  Columbia  Col 
lege  in  1835  and  was  admitted  to  the  bar,  but  almost  imme 
diately  went  into  literature.  His  brother  George  Long  (who 
died  in  1862),  was  also  bred  to  the  law,  and  he  also  embraced 
the  profession  of  letters.  Their  father  on  his  decease  left 
them  a  fair  income.  Evert  added  to  it  by  reviews,  newspaper 
leaders,  and  critiques.  Nearly  all  of  his  labors  are,  therefore, 
ephemeral.  But  he  was  known  throughout  the  United  States 
to  publishers,  authors,  and  editors  as  a  critic  without  malice  or 
bias,  impartial,  just,  discriminating,  and  with  a  style  much  like 
that  of  Charles  Lamb,  whom,  indeed,  he  much  resembled  in  his 
constitutional  shyness,  unctuous  and  quiet  wit,  sententious  and 
clever  conversation,  and  slight  hesitation  in  speech.  He  was 
in  every  respect  a  thoroughly  genial  man,  and  it  is  said  that 
no  one  ever  saw  him  affected  by  ill  temper.  He  had  one  of  the 


£ 


O  4-T 


s  s> 


OLD    NEW    YORK    DAYS  53 

choicest  libraries  in  the  State,  and  he  may  be  said  to  have 
lived  in  it.  He  resided  during  forty  years  at  No.  30  Clinton 
Place,  which  of  late  had  queer  surroundings  for  a  man  of 
quiet  and  retiring  habits.  But  he  so  disliked  changes !  At 
this  residence  in  years  gone  by  met  a  literary  coterie  known  as 
the  '  Colonel's  Club/  of  which  William  Allen  Butler  was  chair 
man,  and  Cornelius  Mathews,  Henry  T.  Tuckerman,  Edward 
J.  Gould,  Bailey  Myers,  Lowell,  Fletcher  Harper,  and  others 
were  leading  members.  Its  papers  were  published  in  the  Liter 
ary  World — a  publication  like  the  London  Athenaeum — which 
belonged  to  and  was  edited  by  the  Duyckincks  from  1846  to 
1853.  J-n  these  papers  first  appeared  several  of  William  Allen 
Butler's  early  poems,  and  notably  the  '  Sexton  and  Ther 
mometer.' 

"  Mr.  Duyckinck's  house,  like  that  of  Rogers  the  banker-poet, 
in  St.  James  Square,  London,  was  always  the  resort  of  the  most 
eminent  literary  men  of  the  country.  All  loved  him,  and  he 
loved  all  nice  men  of  letters  who  were  not  uproarious  Bohe 
mians.  His  best  work  is  the  '  Cyclopaedia  of  American  Litera 
ture,'  in  two  volumes,  published  by  the  father  of  the  present 
Mr.  Scribner,  which  is  a  perfect  history  of  American  litera 
ture  down  to  1860.  Mr.  Duyckinck  was  a  thorough  aestheti- 
cian  and  should  have  passed  his  days  in  London.  He  was  a 
gentleman  of  singularly  sweet  disposition,  and  with  a  soul  as 
little  soiled  by  the  world  as  can  be  possible  to  humanity.  Dur 
ing  many  years  he  was  a  vestryman  of  St.  Thomas',  but  lat 
terly  of  St.  Mark's.  He  died  after  a  brief  illness,  aged  sixty- 
two." 

During  most  of  the  years  that  I  passed  my  winters  at  the 
Clarendon  Hotel,  I  passed  my  summers  at  New  Rochelle, 
where  in  1848  I  had  bought  a  country  seat  called  Winyah 
Park,  about  which  I  wrote  at  that  time  to  a  friend  in  the 
South  :  "  I  have  purchased  a  country  residence  in  New  Rochelle, 
a  very  handsome  farm  about  seventeen  miles  from  New  York 
Citv,  and  as  my  house  is  only  a  few  rods  from  the  railway 
I  can  reach  New  York  in  forty-five  minutes.  I  came  into  town 


54     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

to-day  with  my  own  carriage  in  two  and  a  quarter  hours. 
Eight  miles  of  the  road  is  the  Third  Avenue  of  New  York  City, 
graded  and  lit  by  lamps,  so  that  one  fancies  himself  in  the  City 
all  the  time.  I  should  like  to  have  a  visit  from  you  to  enjoy 
my  fruit.  I  have  over  200  peach  trees,  150  apple  do.  and 
cherries,  etc.,  in  abundance,  with  a  beautiful  lawn  of  six 
acres  in  front  of  my  house.  All  my  fields,  eighty  acres,  have 
stone  walls.  The  dwelling  is  a  new,  double,  two-story  house 
having  sliding  doors,  portico,  etc.  I  am  busy  getting  the  crops 
etc.,  into  my  barn." 

After  a  few  years  I  replaced  the  plain  frame  buildings,  which 
were  utterly  without  architectural  pretensions,  by  a  Tuscan 
villa.  This  villa  was  erected  under  the  supervision  of  Alex 
ander  J.  Davis,  a  leading  architect  of  his  time.  Mr.  Davis 
gave  me  lessons  in  drawing  and  architecture,  and  was  for 
many  years  one  of  my  most  intimate  friends.  I  append  here 
with  a  letter  from  Mr.  Davis — written  many  years  after  the 
construction  of  the  Winyah  Park  house — because  it  gives  an 
admirable  idea  of  the  whimsical  side  of  his  character: 

"  N.  Y.,  Feb.  19,  1883. 

.,_  "203  W.  nth  St. 

FRIEND  LATHERS: 

"  I  quite  miss  you  of  late  as  a  critic  upon  architecture,  for 
your  long  study  and  experience  in  building  on  your  property 
must  enable  you  to  correct  abuses,  and  judge  of  '  forms,  modes 
and  shows  '  which  now  force  themselves  upon  the  attention 
of  all  who  perambulate  our  streets,  or  explore  our  suburbs 
or  pass  by  The  Union  Club  House.  A  grinding  economy  no 
longer  '  represses  our  noble  rage,  and  freezes  the  genial  cur 
rent  of  our  souls,'  as  Goldsmith  says.  You  yourself  must  feel 
the  blighting  influence  of  inadequate  appropriation,  superin 
duced  by  restricted  means,  or  a  too  sordid  economy,  such  as 
we  both  have  had  '  overcome  us  like  a  summer  cloud,  without 
our  special  wonder/  for  in  our  first  efforts  to  obtain  superior 
taste  combined  with  fitness,  use  and  beauty,  our  '  vaulting  am 
bition  did  o'erleap  itself,  and  we  fell  on  the  other,'  as  the  im 
mortal  Billy  has  expressed  it.  I  allude  to  our  great  effort  in 


PH 
W 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  55 

the  original  Italian  villa  of  the  hill  site,  N.  Rochelle.  Here  we 
should  have  expanded  our  philacteries,  and  made  the  octagon 
greater,  the  tower  wider  and  higher :  the  hall  and  dining  room 
more  capacious  and  thus  saved  the  cost  of  the  second  establish 
ment  in  the  wilderness  of  Winyah.  *  Eh !  what  will  you  lay 
it's  a  lie  ?  '  as  Mathews  used  to  say.  Be  this  as  it  may  I  have 
myself  suffered  from  like  causes,  and  upon  my  mountain  top 
built  a  retreat  with  the  broken  fragments  of  Waddell,  and  my 
own  poetical  aspirations,  and  have  since  reared  it  into  a  golden 
palace  of  Nero,  at  twice  the  cost  of  a  better,  had  it  been  begun 
aright,  with  no  iron  fetter  in  place  of  a  golden  one. 

"  When  you  come  to  town  bring  with  you  the  '  Winyah 
Album,'  that  I  may  revise  the  contents,  as  I  have  revised  my 
own,  since  I  have  retired  from  the  active  exercise  of  my  pro 
fession  and  found  time  to  restudy  my  thousand  plans,  and  de 
vote  myself  to  the  self-fancied  correction  of  abuses,  both  in 
church  and  state,  with  an  unsparing  pen  and  pencil,  without 
regard  to  anybody's  feelings,  selfish  interests  and  aggrandise 
ments.  But  I  shall  not  extend  my  letter  of  idle  words,  but  ad 
here  to  lines,  as  my  wont  has  been,  and  therefore  come  back 
to  '  Winyah  Italia]  to  which  I  have  added  a  picture  gallery, 
conservatory,  and  domestic  offices.  I  have  opened  windows 
in  the  top  of  octagon,  extended  the  terrace,  added  a  porte 
cochere,  and  grown  trees  and  shrubs  to  south  front.  I  have 
also  reformed  the  old  time  studies  for  Huguenot  Park, 
the  Davenport  structures,  the  Lawton  *  Over  Cliff '  with  a 
new  library — the  Iselin  mansion,  and  further  on  the  '  Parke 
Whitby.' 

"  I  have  greatly  extended  my  library  since  I  saw  you,  add 
ing  thereto  such  works  as  Duyckinck's  '  Cyclopedia,'  Alli- 
bone  and  other  literary,  philological,  critical,  historical,  and 
illustrative  works,  such  as  you  have  doubtless  added  to  your 
comprehensive  collection  for  the  higher  accomplishment  of 
the  dear  girls,  to  whom,  as  the  ghost  of  Hamlet  says,  say 
you  from  me  to  them  '  Remember  me !  ' 

1  Take  time  to  make  me  a  long  visit  before  my  library  takes 
wing  for  the  mountain.  .  .  . 


56     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  You  must  all  become  life  members  of  the  Historical, 
Geographical,  Archaeological,  Ethical,  Bibliographical,  Ar- 
tistical,  Oil  and  Water  Color  and  though  last,  not  least,  the 
*  Institute  of  Christian  Philosophy/  4  Winthrop  Place.  Dr. 
Deems,  Pres.  and  all  Bishops  Vice  Pres. 

"  I  remain  same  as  ever, 

"A.  J.  DAVIS. 

"  After  an  attentive  study  of  Lord  Kames'  4th  vol.  on  man, 
write  me  of  how  you  get  on  with  Politics  and  Ben  Butler." 

I  spent  much  time  with  Mr.  Davis  while  under  his  tuition 
and  met  frequently  in  his  library  Washington  Irving,  Feni- 
more  Cooper,  Edwin  Forrest,  Evert  Duyckinck,  Downing  (the 
landscape  gardener),  and  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse.  Apropos  of 
the  last-named,  I  recall  a  pleasant  incident. 

I  had  just  finished  in  Mr.  Davis'  studio  a  linear  perspective 
study — a  mere  mathematical  problem  comprising  a  church  be 
tween  two  castellated  villas — and  was  amusing  myself  by  plac 
ing  a  tree  and  some  shrubs  in  the  composition  and  coloring 
it  as  a  picture,  when  Prof.  Morse,  who  was  still  practicing  his 
original  profession  of  painting,  came  in.  I  held  up  my  colored 
study  with  the  remark  "Don't  you  think  this  is  well  done?" 
"  Yes,  pretty  fair,"  was  the  reply.  "  But,"  I  said  somewhat 
crestfallen,  "why  not  well  done?"  "  Because  it  is  very  de 
fective  in  its  aerial  perspective,"  and  he  forthwith  explained 
that  there  are  laws  of  color  as  well  as  of  lines.  He  then  took 
up  my  brush,  and  dipping  it  into  the  color  cup  demonstrated 
by  retouching  the  trees  and  the  various  parts  of  the  edifices, 
the  truth  of  what  he  had  just  said.  "  And  now,  my  young 
friend,"  he  resumed,  "  I  would  not  have  you  mortified  by  my 
criticism  without  telling  you  of  my  own  mortification  over 
the  valuable  criticism  of  my  first  academical  picture  by  Sir 
Benjamin  West,  then  President  of  the  London  Royal  Academy. 
When  I  presented  to  him  the  picture  by  which  I  hoped  to  gain 
admission  to  the  Academy,  he  put  on  his  glasses,  and  after 
looking  at  it  some  time  in  silence,  handed  it  back  to  me  with 
the  rovark,  '  Very  well  done,  young  man,  but  take  it  to  your 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  57 

studio  and  finish  it.'  I  ventured  to  reply  that  I  did  not  know 
of  any  improvement  that  could  be  made.  He  looked  at  me 
kindly  for  a  moment  and  said,  '  Oh,  you  are  too  intelligent 
not  to  see  defects  when  they  are  pointed  out  to  you.  How  far 
from  the  eye  do  you  wish  that  rock  to  be  placed  in  your  com 
position  ? '  I  replied,  '  About  four  hundred  feet.'  '  Then 
don't  you  perceive  that  at  that  distance  the  crevices  and  mosses 
could  not  be  so  plain  nor  the  shades  of  color  so  decided?  On 
the  other  hand,  the  details  of  the  foreground  are  too  faint.' 
I  took  the  study  away  and  made  the  corrections  just  as  Sir 
Benjamin  had  suggested.  I  again  presented  my  study.  Again 
he  mounted  his  spectacles  on  his  nose  and  after  carefully  scan 
ning  my  work  remarked,  *  You  are  on  the  right  road  to  suc 
cess.  Take  the  picture  away  and  finish  it — as  I  believe  you 
will.' 

"  This  lesson,"  said  my  kindly  mentor,  "  will  be  of  value  to 
you.  Art  has  its  stumbling  blocks,  but  study  and  patience  have 
their  rewards." 

I  framed  the  picture  which  Prof.  Morse  retouched  for  me  and 
have  always  kept  it  as  a  souvenir  of  him. 

In  1865,  I  mav  remark  here  in  passing,  I  built  yet  a  third 
and  larger  house  at  Winyah  Park  just  back  of  the  second  in 
which  I  have  since  had  the  pleasure  of  entertaining  many 
noted  people,  among  them  Gen.  Robert  Anderson,  Judge  Pier- 
pont,  Major  Baldwin,  Judge  Clark,  William  Pickersgill,  John 
Gardner,  Charles  O'Conor,  Manton  Marble,  David  M.  Stone, 
Rev.  Dr.  Theodore  Cuyler,  A.  A.  Low,  William  H.  Aspinwall, 
Clarkson  N.  Potter,  Andrew  H.  Green,  John  Russell  Young, 
Gen.  Van  Vliet,  Major  Smith  Ely,  Charles  A.  Dana,  Moses 
Grinnel,  W.  M.  Evarts,  Bishops  Horatio  Potter  and  Henry 
C.  Potter,  and  Admiral  Worthing  of  the  British  Navy. 

One  of  the  most  memorable  events  I  have  witnessed  in  New 
York  was  the  visit  of  Jenny  Lind  in  1850,  for  wrhich  we  were 
indebted  to  the  enterprise  of  our  great  showman,  P.  T.  Barnum. 
Mr.  Barnum  had  already  exhibited  with  great  success  to  the 
aristocracy  of  Europe  the  aged  nurse  of  General  Washington, 
and  the  phenomenal  dwarf,  General  Tom  Thumb;  but  his 


58     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

acute  perception  of  the  public  taste  was  never  more  fully  vin 
dicated  than  when  he  brought  the  Swedish  Nightingale  to 
America.  Mr.  Barnum  subsidized  the  press  heavily,  as  was 
his  custom.  The  slightest  details  of  the  diva's  professional 
and  private  life  were  paraded  before  the  public. 

Our  poets  composed  prize  poems  and  even  our  clergymen 
wrote  flattering  letters.  But  Jenny  Lind  needed  none  of  this 
artificial  booming.  The  musical  world  recognized  her  genius, 
and  the  great  heart  of  the  people  was  in  sympathy  with  her 
sweetness,  modesty,  and  high  moral  character,  to  which  even 
so  rigid  but  judicious  a  critic  as  Queen  Victoria  had  paid 
tribute. 

In  welcome  contrast  with  the  many  fulsome  poems  which 
Barnum  paid  for,  was  one  which  cost  him  nothing,  by  William 
Allen  Butler,  who  became  well  known  later  as  the  author  of 
"  Nothing  to  Wear."  Barnum  is  addressing  Jenny  Lind : 

"  So,  Jenny,  come  along, — you're  just  the  card  for  me, — 
And  quit  these  kings  and  queens  for  the  country  of  the  free. 
Folks'll  welcome  you  with  speeches  and  serenades  and  rockets, 
And  you  shall  touch  their  hearts  and  I  shall  tap  their  pockets, 
And  if  between  us  both  the  public  isn't  skinned, 
Why,  my  name  isn't  Barnum  nor  your  name  Jenny  Lind." 

I  attended  the  famous  first  concert  at  Castle  Garden.  The 
regular  price  for  tickets  was  five  dollars,  but  a  sale  by  auction 
was  resorted  to,  by  which  from  fifteen  to  fifty  dollars  per  seat 
was  realized.  Some  $30,000  resulted  from  the  first  concert,  and 
$700,000  from  the  whole  engagement,  of  which  Barnum's 
share  amounted  to  $500,000  and  Jenny  Lind's  to  $200,000.  At 
the  auction  sale,  one  Genin,  a  Broadway  hatter,  paid  $225 
for  first  choice,  an  extravagance  prompted  by  a  craving  for 
notoriety,  to  all  appearances.  And  yet,  thanks  to  this  extrava 
gance,  Genin  became  widely  known  as  the  Jenny  Lind  hatter, 
and  is  said  to  have  acquired  a  fortune  speedily.  Such  is  skill 
in  making  investments. 

On  the  arrival  of  Jenny  Lind  in  New  York  she  engaged  the 


OLD    NEW   YORK   DAYS  59 

celebrated  flutist,  Kyle,  to  accompany  her  during  her  tour,  and 
requested  him  to  put  several  flutes  to  the  test  of  a  comparison 
with  her  voice.  I,  at  that  time,  was  a  pupil  of  Kyle,  and  a 
flute  had  just  been  finished  for  me  under  Kyle's  supervision 
which  was  remarkable  for  its  purity  of  tone,  especially  in  the 
higher  register  of  notes.  Kyle  craved  permission,  which  I 
readily  granted,  to  include  my  flute  among  those  he  was  to  test. 
It  turned  out  to  be  particularly  in  harmony  with  Jenny  Lind's 
sweet  voice.  She  selected  it  from  among  eight  or  ten  for  her 
concerts,  and  Kyle  accompanied  her  with  it  as  long  as  she  re 
mained  in  America.  I  quote  herewith  a  description  of  Jenny 
Lind's  flute  song  from  the  pen  of  A.  Oakey  Hall: 

"  And  now  is  coming  the  crucial  test  of  the  fluidity 
of  the  Jenny  Lind  voice,  for  she  is  announced  to  sing, 
without  orchestra,  a  composition  written  expressly  for  her 
by  Meyerbeer, — a  trio  for  voice  and  two  flutes,  Kyle  play 
ing  the  first  flute,  and  another  popular  favorite  playing  the 
second.  Jenny  Lind's  vocal  skill  in  rivaling  with  the  flutes 
produces  such  a  novel  and  striking  performance  as  New 
York  has  never  heard  before,  and,  indeed,  may  never  hear 
again.  Her  flute  song  embodies  three  movements ;  the  earliest 
an  allegro  with  the  first  flute  in  which  voice  and  instrument 
are  so  perfectly  blended  that  at  times  it  is  impossible  to  de 
termine  whether  the  voice  is  from  the  flute  or  the  flute  from 
the  voice.  The  second  movement  is  an  andante  with  the  second 
flute,  which  produces  a  similar  blending,  but  in  a  key  different 
from  the  first  and  running  up  into  F  in  alt.  In  the  third,  the 
flutes  are  in  duet  with  the  voice;  when  the  flutes  pause,  the 
voice  continues  alone,  imitating  the  flute  movement." 

When  my  Jenny  Lind  flute  was  returned  to  me,  I  had  a  silver 
band  bearing  an  engraved  inscription  put  around  it.  I  still 
have  the  flute  and  I  prize  it  to-day,  by  virtue  of  its  associations, 
beyond  almost  any  other  possession. 

John  Howard  Payne  was  present  at  Jenny  Lind's  last  ap 
pearance  in  Washington.  In  response  to  a  call  for  an  en- 


60     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

core,  she  suddenly  turned  her  face  to  the  part  of  the  theater 
where  Payne  was  sitting,  and  looking  him  steadily  in  the  face 
sang  "  Home,  Sweet  Home  "  with  such  pathos  and  power  as 
to  melt  the  whole  audience  to  tears.  Even  Daniel  Webster's 
self-control  forsook  him,  and  Payne  nearly  lost  his  reason  in 
listening  thus  unexpectedly  to  her  magnificent  rendition  of  his 
own  immortal  lyric. 

Jenny  Lind  was  not  a  handsome  woman,  but  had  a  queenly 
person — with  dark  hair,  a  lovely  neck,  fine  color,  and  per 
fectly  formed  arms.  She  was  accompanied  by  the  celebrated 
tenor  Mario  (the  acknowledged  successor  of  Rubini)  whose 
beauty  attracted  the  ladies  quite  as  much  as  his  voice. 

Ten  years  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1860,  the  Prince  of  Wales 
visited  New  York,  accompanied  by  the  Duke  of  Newcastle  and 
a  suite  of  seven  or  eight  distinguished  persons. 

Early  in  August  a  reception  committee  of  one  hundred  citi 
zens  was  appointed  of  which  the  venerable  philanthropist, 
Peter  Cooper,  was  chairman.  I  was  the  youngest  member  of 
that  committee,  and  am  probably  the  only  survivor. 

I  cannot  resist  calling  attention  to  the  financial  miracle  per 
formed  by  our  managing  secretary,  Maunson  B.  Field,  who, 
instead  of  reporting  (as  is  usual  in  the  case  of  popular  sub 
scription  entertainments)  a  deficiency  to  be  made  good  by  the 
subscribers,  reported  a  considerable  surplus,  which  the  sub 
scribers  ordered  to  be  distributed  to  charity. 

The  following  document  throws  some  light  upon  the  means 
bv  which  this  remarkable  feat  was  achieved : 


"BALL  IN  HONOR  OF 
HIS  ROYAL  HIGHNESS,  THE  PRINCE  OF  WALES. 


"  We,  the  undersigned,  Members  of  the  Citizens'  Committee 
for  the  Ball  in  honor  of  the  Prince  of  Wales,  severally  agree 
to  subscribe  each  the  sum  of  Seventy  Dollars,  in  accordance 
with  the  following  conditions,  with  the  understanding,  how- 


OLD    NEW   YORK    DAYS  61 

ever,  that  any  amount  remaining  over  after  all  expenses  shall 
be  paid  shall  be  returned  pro  rata. 


CONDITIONS  REFERRED  TO  ABOVE  I 

"  Twenty-Eight  Hundred  Tickets  shall  be  finally  issued. 
Every  gentleman  on  the  Committee  to  have  the  right  to  seven 
accepted  invitations,  subscribing  therefor  the  sum  of  Seventy 
Dollars.  The  invitations  to  be  in  the  proportion  of  four  ladies 
to  three  gentlemen.  Each  member  of  the  Committee  will  hand 
in  to  the  Secretary  the  names  of  the  persons  whom  he  pro 
poses  to  have  invited,  and  as  soon  as  these  names  are  approved 
by  the  Invitation  Committee,  the  Secretary  will  issue  the  in 
vitations.  Upon  the  acceptance  of  these  invitations,  Tickets 
(not  transferable)  will  be  issued.  If  any  invitations  are  de 
clined,  the  gentleman  at  whose  request  they  were  issued  will 
have  the  liberty  of  presenting  other  names  until  his  full  com 
plement  of  Tickets  is  exhausted.  Any  tickets  which  may  be 
left  over  will  be  in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary  to  be  disposed  of 
pro  rata  among  those  Members  of  the  General  Committee 
who  may  make  application  for  them  in  time,  with  the  same 
provisions  as  above.  Every  Ticket  to  be  carefully  registered, 
and  to  be  countersigned  by  one  of  the  Committee  on  Tickets 
and  Finance,  and  also  by  the  gentleman  at  whose  request  it 
was  issued. 

"  NEW  YORK,  September  4th,  1860." 

Another  committee  of  nine  was  appointed  to  organize  a 
suitable  banquet  in  honor  of  the  visitors.  The  members  of 
this  committee  were  William  B.  Astor,  Pelatiah  Perit,  William 
Kent,  Moses  Taylor,  John  A.  Dix,  Robert  B.  Minturn,  John 
J.  Cisco,  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  and  Julian  C.  Verplanck,  not  one 
of  whom  now  survives. 

The  banquet,  the  ball,  and  the  various  receptions  were  worthy 
of  our  guest  and  creditable  to  the  hospitality  of  the  city  of 
New  York. 

The  ball  naturally  caused  a  good  deal  of  maneuvering  on 


62     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  part  of  the  ambitious  society  mammas  who  were  anxious 
that  their  daughters  should  have  the  honor  of  dancing  with 
the  Prince.  The  Committee  very  properly  awarded  this  honor 
in  the  first  set  to  the  wife  of  Governor  Morgan — a  very  large, 
dignified  lady,  who,  it  was  said,  had  taken  lessons  of  a  dancing 
master  for  the  occasion.  But  afterward  the  Prince,  who  was  a 
boy  in  stature,  as  in  years,  selected  partners  nearer  his  own 
size. 

Early  in  the  evening,  as  the  Prince  and  his  escort  came  to 
the  center  of  the  hall,  there  was  a  rush  on  the  part  of  the 
spectators,  and  the  timbers  which  supported  the  temporary 
flooring  over  the  pit  of  the  Academy  of  Music  gave  way,  tumb 
ling  many  of  us  in  a  heap,  but  causing  no  damage  to  life  or 
limb,  and  very  little  to  costume,  as  the  floor  settled  only  four 
feet  quite  gradually.  The  Duke  of  Newcastle,  not  a  little 
alarmed,  hurried  the  Prince  to  a  reception  room.  One  of  the 
more  enterprising  young  ladies  rendered  her  fair  friends  vastly 
jealous  by  monopolizing  the  Prince  there  while  the  floor  was 
being  repaired  and  strengthened  by  the  carpenters ;  after  the 
dancing  commenced,  however,  he  made  his  attentions  general, 
irrespective  of  the  claims  of  society  belles  languishing  for  his 
notice. 

Mayor  Wood  had  the  honor  of  entertaining  the  Prince  at 
a  breakfast  at  his  country  seat,  and  Col.  Delafield,  commanding 
at  West  Point,  gave  him  a  reception  there  at  which  Gen.  Scott 
made  the  presentations  of  the  guests  to  the  royal  party,  with 
his  customary  dignity  and  discrimination.  An  incident  oc 
curred,  however,  which  shows  that  there  is  something  in  a 
name,  despite  Shakespeare.  I  quote  from  Ward  McAllister: 

"  I  approached  Gen.  Scott  asking  him  to  present  me  to  his 
Royal  Highness.  Great  as  he  was  in  height,  he  bent  down  his 
head  to  me  and  asked  sharply,  '  What  name,  sir?  '  I  gave  my 
name,  McAllister,  but  at  the  sound  of  Me,  not  thinking  it 
distinguished  enough,  he  said  quite  brusquely,  '  Pass  on,  sir/ 
Subsequently  I  was  presented  to  the  Prince  by  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle." 


CHAPTER  III 

BUSINESS  MEMORIES 

IN  1848,  having  decided  to  settle  permanently  in  New  York, 
I  leased  No.  57  Broad  Street,  near  Wall  Street,  and  established 
myself  as  a  commission  merchant  for  the  sale  of  cotton,  rice, 
sugar,  and  other  Southern  products,  and  as  an  agent  of  several 
Southern  insurance  companies  and  banks.  I  also  became  the 
selling  agent  of  the  Townsend  factory,  the  first  South  Caro 
lina  cotton  yarn  factory  to  be  represented  in  New  York. 

Here  let  me  give  an  amusing  incident  connected  with 
this  Broad  Street  tenancy.  The  building  was  a  four- 
story  brick  block,  the  upper  stories  of  which  were  sup 
ported  by  square  granite  pillars  about  eighteen  inches  wide. 
I  sublet  the  second  floor  to  the  lawyer,  Horace  F.  Clarke, 
who  had  recently  married  the  daughter  of  Commodore 
Vanderbilt.  Mr.  Clarke  was  not  only  an  astute  and  prom 
inent  lawyer  but,  being  wealthy,  was  a  large  lender  of 
money  to  his  needy  clients  at,  as  they  thought,  exorbitant 
rates — "  shaves,"  to  use  the  slang  of  the  day.  Now  the  granite 
pillars  of  the  ground  story  offered  only  a  restriced  space  for 
the  names  of  tenants,  and  my  name  had  to  be  printed  in  two 
lines.  Mr.  Clarke,  being  too  well  known  to  need  given  name 
or  initials,  used  the  single  word  Clarke.  One  night  some  dis 
gruntled  client  of  Mr.  Clarke  procured  a  miniature  barber's 
pole,  secured  it  under  the  names  by  carefully  fabricated  iron 
clamps,  and  painted  the  word  "  SHAVES  "  under  Clarke — 
making  the  inscription  over  the  barber's  pole  read : 

RICHARD 

LATHERS 

CLARKE 

SHAVES. 

63 


64     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Although  not  a  little  mortified  when  I  came  to  my  office  to 
find  a  crowd  gathered  making  fun  of  the  above,  I  was  obliged 
to  confess  that  for  a  stranger  in  a  strange  city  I  was  being 
given  a  generous  share  of  free  advertising. 

I  never  recall  this  period  without  gratitude  for  the  way  in 
which  I  was  treated  by  my  competitors  in  my  various  lines  of 
business,  who,  instead  of  making  my  business  beginnings  dif 
ficult,  as  they  might  have  done,  accorded  me — almost  without 
exception — kindness  and  support. 

Shortly  after  my  removal  to  New  York  an  old  friend  (a 
retired  merchant  and  Ex-Mayor  of  Brooklyn)  who  was  or 
ganizing  a  Marine  Insurance  Company,  requested  me  to  sub 
scribe,  and  I  took  some  $5,000  of  the  capital  stock  to  aid  him 
to  procure  for  himself  the  presidency  of  the  company.  The 
company  seemed,  for  a  few  months,  to  be  doing  a  fair  busi 
ness.  One  day  the  president  asked  me  to  make  the  company  a 
loan  on  call  of  some  $10,000,  by  which  he  proposed  to  antici 
pate  payment  of  a  loss  not  yet  due,  and  obtain  a  rebate  thereon. 
On  calling  in  the  loan,  after  a  couple  of  months,  I  was  sur 
prised  at  being  told  that  it  would  be  inconvenient  for  the 
company  to  pay  for  two  or  three  weeks.  I  at  once  said  to  the 
president,  "  There  must  be  some  lax  management  of  your 
finances."  He  replied,  "  My  finance  committee  are  neither  very 
capable  nor  very  energetic,  and  if  I  could  persuade  you  to 
accept  a  directorship  and  the  chairmanship  of  the  finance  com 
mittee,  the  board  of  directors  would  be  glad  to  elect  you." 
The  directors  being  respectable  bankers  and  shipping  mer 
chants,  I  replied,  "  Considering  my  stock  and  my  loan  to  the 
company,  I  will  accept."  On  taking  the  position  and  examin 
ing  the  books,  I  soon  discovered  that  the  capital  appeared  to- 
be  impaired,  and  calling  a  meeting  of  the  board,  I  informed 
them  that  each  member  would  be  responsible  personally  for  the 
future  indebtedness  of  the  company  if  they  should  continue  in 
business  with  an  impaired  capital.  I  advised  that  the  com 
pany  suspend  business  and  that  the  stockholders  be  assessed 
and  required  to  pay  in  twenty-five  per  cent,  on  their  stock,  to 
make  good  the  apparent  deficiency  of  the  capital,  by  a  given 


BUSINESS    MEMORIES  65 

day,  when  business  would  be  resumed.  The  stockholders  came 
forward  promptly  with  the  funds,  which  were  placed  to  my 
own  credit  in  the  Bank  of  the  Republic,  to  be  transferred  to 
the  company  as  soon  as  it  should  be  ascertained  that  the  contri 
butions  would  cover  the  full  extent  of  the  deficiency.  Some  of 
the  larger  creditors,  however,  for  some  sinister  purpose,  act 
ually  withheld  the  presentation  of  their  claims  till  the  day 
fixed  by  the  notice  for  resumption,  when  such  a  perfect  ava 
lanche  of  claims  came  in  that  I  was  satisfied  that  the  company 
was  bankrupt.  I  called  the  board  together  and  so  informed 
them,  and  they  were  very  grateful  to  me  for  withholding  the 
funds  paid  in  by  the  stockholders,  to  whom  they  were  at  once 
returned. 

The  year  1854  was  a  disastrous  one  for  marine  underwriters. 
Many  of  the  companies  became  bankrupt,  especially  the  mutual 
companies.  The  need  of  more  companies  and  more  capital  in 
the  business  to  cover  merchants'  and  bankers'  credit  in  the 
city  led  to  the  formation  of  a  stock  company  with  a  large  cash 
capital  subscribed  by  investors,  with  a  division  of  profits — to 
be  annually  declared — of  one  quarter  to  capital  and  three 
quarters  to  the  dealers  in  scrip.  This  system  of  dividing  profits 
which  I  devised  after  much  thought  was  designed  to  meet  the 
desire  for  cash  capital  and  inspire  confidence,  and  at  the  same 
time  compete  with  the  mutual  system  attractive  to  customers 
because  the  whole  profits  reverted  to  them. 

On  being  offered  the  presidency  of  this  new  company,  called 
the  Great  Western  Marine  Insurance  Company,  I  said  flatly 
to  the  committee  who  approached  me  that  I  was  unwilling  to 
give  up  my  large  commission  business  to  push  this  novel 
scheme,  although  it  was  of  my  own  invention,  unless  the 
capital  should  be  fixed  at  $5,000,000;  unless  I  should  be  one 
of  the  largest  stockholders ;  unless  I  should  be  permitted  to 
select  from  thirty  to  thirty-six  directors  from  among  the  lead 
ing  bankers  and  merchants  interested  in  foreign  trade  directly 
or  indirectly ;  and  unless  each  director  should  be  required  to 
hold  at  least  $10,000  worth  of  stock. 

One  of  the  committee  asked  me  if  I  had  in  mv  mind  such  a 


66     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

board  of  directors  as  I  described,  to  which  I  replied  that  in 
anticipation  of  the  question  I  had  prepared  a  list  which  I 
thought  would  meet  their  approbation.  Another  member  of 
the  committee  then  asked,  "  Do  you  know  that  these  gentlemen 
will  serve?  Have  you  consulted  them?"  I  replied  that  I 
had  not  consulted  them  and  indeed  had  never  met  some  of 
them  and  knew  intimately  only  a  few.  But  I  believed  that 
the  general  desire  for  a  substantial  company  with  a  large  cash 
capital  on  which  to  base  commercial  credits  and  the  pleasant 
prospect  of  making  a  part  of  so  distinguished  and  unique  a 
board  of  directors  would  have  great  weight  with  them.  This 
opinion  was  fully  vindicated  by  the  readiness  with  which  the 
directorships  were  accepted  and  by  the  speed  with  which  the 
capital  stock  was  over-subscribed. 

At  a  dinner  in  London  during  the  Civil  War  I  was  intro 
duced  to  the  president  of  the  Bank  of  England,  who,  when 
told  that  I  wras  the  president  of  the  Great  Western  Insurance 
Company  of  New  York  remarked,  "  That  is  one  of  the  New 
York  corporations  in  which  I  know  personally  or  by  reputa 
tion  most  of  the  directors." 

The  directors  of  the  Great  Western  at  the  time  the  president 
of  the  Bank  of  England  made  this  significant  observation,  were : 
Richard  Lathers,  president;  W.  C.  Pickersgill,  of  W.  C.  Pick- 
ersgill  &  Co.,  London  and  Liverpool ;  James  Benkard,  of  Ben- 
kard  &  Hutton,  Lyons  and  Paris ;  Wm.  H.  Guion,  of  Williams 
&  Guion,  New  York  and  Liverpool;  Sam'l  D.  Babcock,  of 
Babcock  Bros.  &  Co.,  bankers,  Liverpool ;  James  M.  Brown,  of 
Brown  Bros.  &  Co.,  bankers,  New  York  and  London ;  H.  F. 
Spaulding,  of  Spaulding,  Hunt  &  Co. ;  J.  L.  Aspinwall,  of  How- 
land  &  Aspinwall,  commission  merchants  ;  John  Allen,  Southern 
banker;  Gustavus  Kutter,  of  Loeschigk,  Wesendonck  &  Co., 
Switzerland ;  L.  H.  Brigham,  of  Brigham  &  Parsons,  Savannah, 
Ga. ;  J.  A.  Mecke,  of  Reiner  &  Mecke,  Germany ;  John  R. 
Gardner,  banker,  of  Pickersgill  &  Co.,  London ;  Wm.  Wright,  of 
R.  L.  Maitland  &  Co.,  Emile  Heineman,  of  Heineman  &  Pay- 
son  ;  N.  Chandler,  of  J.  Monroe  &  Co.,  bankers,  Paris ;  Robert 
Spedding,  of  Henry  A.  Swift  &  Co. ;  J.  B.  Johnston,  of  J.  Boor- 


BUSINESS    MEMORIES  67 

man  Johnston  &  Co.,  bankers ;  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  of  Evarts, 
Southmayd  &  Choate;  Fred'k.  C.  Gebhard,  of  Schuchardt  & 
Gebhard,  bankers ;  Sam'l  B.  Caldwell,  of  Caldwell  &  Morris, 
Mobile,  Ala. ;  Geo.  W.  Hennings,  of  Hennings  &  Gosling,  Ger 
many  ;  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  of  Sullivan,  Randolph  &  Budd ;  J.  J. 
Crane,  president  of  Bank  of  the  Republic ;  George  W.  Bee,  of 
Williams,  Bee  &  Co. ;  Wm.  B.  Duncan,  of  Duncan,  Sherman 
&  Co.,  bankers;  Rob't  M.  Olyphant,  of  Olyphant,  Son  &  Co., 
China  merchants ;  J.  Pierpont  Morgan,  of  J.  Pierpont  Morgan 
&  Co.,  bankers ;  Thomas  Slocomb ;  Geo.  A.  Phelps,  Jr.,  of 
Chamberlaine,  Phelps  &  Co.,  Sicilian  merchants. 

A  few  years  after  the  Great  Western  was  organized  a  rather 
remarkable  instance  of  barratry  occurred  by  which  this  com 
pany  was  the  chief  sufferer.  As  president,  therefore,  I  took  the 
prosecution  in  hand  and  called  on  the  counsel  of  the  company, 
Wm.  M.  Evarts,  to  give  it  special  attention.  Mr.  Evarts  pro 
posing  to  refer  the  case  to  Joseph  H.  Choate,  who  was  then 
his  clerk  or  junior  partner,  I  objected  to  the  appointment  of 
so  young  and  unknown  a  practitioner,  whatever  his  natural 
ability  might  be,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  well-known  lawyer, 
Oakey  Hall,  had  been  retained  by  the  defense.  Mr.  Evarts 
said,  "  Let  him  manage  the  case  and  you  will  have  cause  to 
withdraw  your  objection  to  his  want  of  experience."  Need 
less  to  say,  Mr.  Evarts  was  right.  This  was  Mr.  Choate's  first 
case  in  a  field  in  which  he  has  since  reaped  much  honor. 

Another  young  man  regarding  whom  I  was  skeptical  in 
the  early  stages  of  his  career  was  J.  Pierpont  Morgan.  I 
remember  distinctly  that  when  he  was  proposed  as  a  director 
of  the  Great  Western  I  was  decidedly  of  the  opinion  that  he 
would  not  "  do  "  at  all,  and  that  I  gave  my  consent  to  his  oc 
cupying  so  responsible  a  position  with  the  greatest  reluctance. 

I  became  a  member  of  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce 
in  1855,  at  which  time  it  numbered  less  than  350  members, 
with  the  majority  of  whom  I  as  an  underwriter  and  a  merchant 
had  business  relations.  The  Chamber  was  made  up  mainly  of 
commission  merchants,  ship  owners,  marine  underwriters,  and 
bankers.  Indeed,  the  larger  transactions  of  business  at  that 


68     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

time  were  concentrated  in  one  exchange,  now  used  as  a  cus 
tom  house,  where  merchants,  brokers,  and  bankers  met  daily, 
at  noon,  thereby  coming-  into  closer  personal  relations  with 
one  another  than  they  do  to-day.  The  Chamber  has  actively 
promoted  the  commerce  of  New  York  and  co-operated  with 
the  authorities  in  every  good  work  for  the  advancement  of  the 
business  and  security  of  the  country.  Its  services,  during  the 
Civil  War  in  particular,  were  worthy  of  the  business  and 
social  position  of  its  members ;  I  only  regret  an  absence  of  ap 
preciation  and  support  of  free  trade,  the  very  essence  of  com 
merce. 

July  18,  1855,  I  was  elected  a  director  of  the  New  York 
and  Erie  Railroad. 

The  wit  of  the  Union  Club  (to  which  I  belonged  for  a 
time),  commenting  one  day  on  the  alleged  uncertainty  of  the 
published  financial  statements  of  the  Erie  Road,  observed  that 
its  bookkeeper  kept  a  lead  pencil  and  an  india  rubber  eraser  on 
his  desk  instead  of  pen  and  ink;  and,  although  the  joke  was 
at  my  expense,  it  was  too  good  to  be  resented.  This  wit, 
who  was  a  prominent  stockholder,  was  the  single  saving  fea 
ture  of  a  club  that  was  hopelessly  dull  in  all  other  respects. 
Catching  sight  of  a  railroad  attorney  (who  was  believed  to 
fatten  on  railroad  receiverships),  with  his  hands  in  his 

trousers'  pockets,  he  ejaculated,  "  Why,  if  there  isn't  X , 

with  his  hands  in  his  own  pockets!"  When  a  certain  bald- 
headed  banker  boasted  in  his  presence  of  being  a  self-made 
man,  he  said,  "  Then  why  the  Devil  didn't  you  put  more  hair 
on  your  head  ?  "  And  to  a  young  Englishman,  who,  pretending 
not  to  hear  something  he  had  said,  leaned  back  in  his  chair 
and  put  an  eye-glass  to  his  right  eye  with  a  typically  British 
"  Aw  ?  Aw  ?  "  he  retorted,  "  You  don't  mean  to  say  you  hear 
with  that  damned  thing,  do  you  ?  " 

But  I  am  straying  far  from  the  Erie  Road,  about  my  con 
nection  with  which  I  began  to  speak. 

As  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Erie,  I  had 
to  arraign  repeatedly  Daniel  Drew,  who  was  one  of  the 
directors,  for  selling  the  company's  stock  short  at  times  when 


BUSINESS    MEMORIES  69 

the  knowledge  of  such  sales  was  calculated  to  injure  the 
credit  of  the  road,  then  struggling  to  meet  its  obligations  by 
bank  loans  in  anticipation  of  future  earnings.  Mr.  Drew  was 
the  personification  of  good  nature,  even  when  taken  to  task 
for  this  reprehensible  practice.  He  would  answer  promptly, 
"  Them  boys  [meaning  his  partners]  have  done  this,  and  I  will 
put  a  stop  to  it  at  once."  Then,  when  his  short  sales  as  a 
bear  had  effected  his  purpose,  he  would  turn  around  and  bull 
the  stock.  His  desire  to  speculate  in  this  way  was  so  strong 
that  I  found  it  useless  to  attempt  to  control  him. 

The  Morse  Brothers,  who  were  tenants  of  the  Great  West 
ern  in  William  Street,  were  at  one  time  very  successful  bulls 
in  the  stock  market.  Learning  through  Mr.  Drew  and  other 
directors  that  the  Erie  was  doing  well,  they  began  to  purchase 
the  stock  freely.  Drew,  finding  the  market  greatly  advanced, 
began  to  sell  out — employing  outside  brokers  in  order  that 
the  sales  might  not  be  traced  to  him.  Other  speculators,  de 
siring  to  avail  themselves  of  the  profits  already  in  sight,  began 
to  sell  also.  The  object  of  Morse  Brothers  was  to  make  what 
with  stock  brokers  is  called  a  corner,  by  holding  all  the  market 
able  stock.  They  felt  so  sure  of  their  ground  that  they  pur 
chased  more  of  the  stock  than  they  had  ready  funds  to  pay  for, 
and  then  applied  to  Drew  for  a  loan  on  the  stock,  to  enable 
them  to  continue  purchasing,  relying  on  him  to  retain  his 
stock  and  keep  up  its  market  value  by  reason  of  his  interest 
in  the  road  as  a  director.  Drew  proposed  that  they  should 
share  equally  with  him  (in  consideration  of  a  loan  of  $50,000) 
the  nominal  profits  which  they  had  realized  on  their  early  pur 
chases,  when  the  stock  was  depressed.  This  they  objected  to, 
offering  about  20  per  cent.  Drew  advised  them  to  consider 
the  proposition  until  the  next  day,  which  they  promised  to  do. 
That  evening  they  found  an  enormous  block  of  Drew's  stock 
on  sale,  which  they  purchased,  not  knowing  it  was  his.  They 
hastened  to  accept  Drew's  offer  the  next  day,  when  to  their 
great  disappointment  and  disgust  he  informed  them  that  he 
regretted  that  they  had  not  accepted  it  the  day  before,  since 
the  banks  had  disappointed  him  in  the  loans  he  had  hoped  to 


70     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

make  to  aid  them,  and  he  could  only  raise  $5,000  at  once,  while 
they  needed  a  lump  sum  of  nearly  $100,000  to  carry  them  over. 
The  result  was  the  suspension  of  the  house  the  next  day,  when, 
by  reason  of  the  fall  in  the  market  under  the  forced  sale,  Drew 
was  able  to  purchase  back  the  same  stock  he  had  sold  a  few 
days  before  at  50  per  cent,  less  than  he  had  sold  it  for.  I  met 
Drew  at  the  office  of  the  Erie  a  few  days  after,  and  remarked 
that  I  was  sorry  to  observe  the  failure  of  Morse  Brothers. 
"  Do  you  know,"  replied  Drew,  "  them  boys  are  angry  with  me 
because  I  could  not  raise  $100,000  for  them  to  bridge  over 
their  own  imprudence  ?  " 

Although  Mr.  Drew  was  (to  put  it  mildly)  "  rather  sharp," 
nevertheless  I  always  found  him  ready  to  aid  me  as  chair 
man  of  the  Finance  Committee,  by  his  name  and  his  bank 
account  as  indorser  for  the  road,  whenever  the  road's  bank 
account  was  found  to  be  too  small  for  its  obligations.  His 
character  was  a  singular  combination  of  religious  and  chari 
table  impulses  and  an  intense  and  irresistible  passion  for  stock 
gambling.  He  was  a  fervent  Methodist,  and  devoted  a  large 
part  of  the  proceeds  of  his  gambling  to  founding  a  Methodist 
seminary  and  to  supporting  the  Methodist  churches  of  the 
city. 

It  is  narrated  of  him,  that,  being  greatly  moved  by  an  elo 
quent  clerical  appeal  for  a  certain  mission,  he  pledged  $10,000, 
a  sum  which  seemed  to  him  when  he  came  to  think  it  over 
calmly  more  than  he  could  spare  from  his  business.  "  I  at  once 
resorted  to  prayer — my  usual  remedy — to  help  me  out  of  my 
dilemma,"  he  said  shortly  after  a  class  meeting,  "  and  be 
sought  the  Lord  to  show  me  the  way  out  of  the  difficulty.  Con 
fident  of  relief,  I  went  down  to  my  business  the  next  morning, 
my  brethren,  and  fleeced  them  fellows  out  of  double  the  sum 
I  needed." 

Another  New  York  financier  in  whose  character  respect  for 
religion  was  strangely  blended  with  irreligious  qualities,  was 
Commodore  Vanderbilt.  I  once  took  an  English  friend  to  the 
Manhattan  Club,  at  whose  whist  table  the  Commodore  was  a 
nightly  and  earnest  sitter.  When  I  pointed  out  the  Commodore, 


BUSINESS    MEMORIES  71 

who  was  wearing  a  white  cravat,  my  friend  remarked  that  he 
had  observed  him  at  the  card  table  because  he  was  surprised 
to  find  a  clergyman  engaged  in  playing  whist  for  money,  but 
had  concluded  that  this  liberty  was  accorded  clergymen  in 
America.  At  that  instant  this  clerical-looking  gentleman,  being 
displeased  by  a  false  lead,  came  out  with  the  most  flagrant 
layman's  oath  conceivable. 

When  Commodore  Vanderbilt  was  fitting  out  his  celebrated 
sea-going  yacht  for  his  cruise  around  the  world,  my  young 
brother-in-law,  whose  father  was  an  old  friend  of  the  Com 
modore,  inquired  of  him  whether  he  would  take  a  chaplain  on 
the  voyage  with  him.  The  Commodore  replied  with  consid 
erable  spirit,  "  Do  you  think  I  am  such  a  damned  heathen  as 
to  go  to  sea  on  as  long  a  voyage  as  this  without  a  chaplain — 
in  case  of  death  among  guests  or  crew  ?  " 

The  maxim  of  Franklin,  "  Take  care  of  the  pennies  and  the 
dollars  will  take  care  of  themselves,"  has  had  little  to  do  with 
the  amassing  of  the  colossal  fortunes  of  New  York.  I  often 
saw  from  my  office  window  the  millionaire  ship-owner,  Ed 
ward  Mott  Robinson,  haggling  with  the  poor  woman  at  the 
corner  fruit  stand  over  the  price  of  a  few  peaches  with  which 
to  eke  out  the  economical  lunch  he  was  carrying  in  a  little 
satchel  in  his  hand.  He  lived  in  a  plain  boarding  house  in 
Jersey  City,  and  thus  avoided  taxation  in  New  York.  His 
fortune  was  not  the  result  of  his  parsimoniousness,  but  of 
his  enterprise  and  skill. 


CHAPTER     IV 

EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION 

ONE  of  the  earliest  efforts  to  save  the  Union  from  threatened 
civil  war  was  the  large  meeting  of  conservative  citizens  held 
at  the  Academy  of  Music,  Dec.  iQth,  1859,  over  which  Daniel 
F.  Tiemann,  the  Mayor  of  New  York,  presided,  and  of  which 
I  had  the  honor  to  be  one  of  the  vice  presidents. 

The  Committee  of  Arrangements  were:  James  W.  Beek- 
man,  Matthew  Morgan,  D.  M.  Whitlock,  Joshua  J.  Henry, 
Wilson  G.  Hunt,  James  T.  Soutter,  Henry  Grinnel,  Watts 
Sherman,  Gerard  Hallock,  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  William  H. 
Appleton,  E.  E.  Morgan,  James  Brooks,  Alexander  T.  Stewart. 

The  call  for  the  meeting,  which  I  give  herewith,  was  signed 
by  20,000  citizens  (fully  one-third  of  the  actual  vote  of  the 
city),  representing  all  classes  and  parties.  An  extract  from 
this  public  notice  will  give  the  reader  an  idea  of  the  temper 
of  the  times : 

"  THE  NORTH  AND  THE  SOUTH. 

"  JUSTICE  AND   FRATERNITY. 

"  The  undersigned,  regarding  with  just  abhorrence  the 
crimes  of  John  Brown,  and  his  confederates,  desire  to  unite  with 
our  fellow-citizens  of  New- York  and  vicinity,  in  a  public  and 
formal  denunciation  of  that  and  all  similar  outrages,  and  to 
declare  our  unalterable  purpose  to  stand  by  the  Constitution 
in  all  its  parts,  as  interpreted  by  the  Supreme  Court  of  the 
United  States ;  and  we  hereby  denounce  as  unpatriotic  and 
untrue,  revolutionary  and  dangerous,  the  idea  of  an  irrepres 
sible  conflict  existing  between  the  two  great  sections  of  our 
beloved  Union.  On  the  contrary,  we  maintain  that  the  North 
and  the  South  were  created  for  each  other :  that  there  is  a 

72 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  73 

natural  and  necessary  affinity  between  them,  by  parentage, 
history,  religion,  language,  and  geographical  position;  and 
that  even  their  different  climates,  and  different  forms  of  in 
dustry,  add  strength  to  this  bond  of  union,  by  enabling  them 
to  supply  each  other's  wants.  And  we  hereby  solemnly  pledge 
ourselves,  from  this  hour,  by  our  influence,  our  example,  our 
votes,  and  by  every  other  proper  means,  to  discountenance 
and  oppose  SECTIONALISM  in  all  its  forms.  Those  of  our 
fellow-citizens  who  share  these  sentiments  with  us,  are  re 
quested  to  join  us  in  a  public  expression  of  the  same,  at  such 
time  and  place  as  may  be  designated  by  this  Committee." 

This  call  was  responded  to  with  a  cordiality  unprecedented 
in  this  city.  The  meeting  was  opened  with  prayer  by  Rev. 
Dr.  Vermilye.  Speeches  were  made  by  James  Brooks,  Charles 
O'Conor,  Ex-Governor  Washington  Hunt,  James  S.  Thayer, 
Ex- Senator  John  A.  Dix,  Prof.  Mitchell,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Bethune, 
and  letters  were  read  from  Ex-President  Martin  Van  Buren, 
Ex-President  Fillmore,  Ex-President  Pierce,  U.  S.  Senator 
Dickinson,  Ex-Governor  Briggs  of  Massachusetts,  D.  D.  Bar 
nard,  and  General  Winfield  Scott. 

This  same  month  I  was  appointed  by  the  State  Central 
Committee  at  Albany  one  of  a  Committee  of  Three  to  call 
meetings  throughout  the  State  for  the  purpose  of  choosing 
delegates  to  the  Charleston  Democratic  Convention.  We  were 
greatly  disappointed  by  the  unfortunate  adjournment  of  this 
convention,  from  which  may  be  dated  the  inception  of  seces 
sion.  The  following  July,  I  refused  to  represent  New  Rochelle 
in  the  County  Nominating  Convention,  called  to  appoint  a 
delegate  from  Westchester  to  the  State  Convention  of  Syra 
cuse,  on  the  ground  that  I  could  not  sympathize  with  either 
faction  of  the  party  in  action  which  threatened  the  defeat 
of  the  party,  if  not  the  destruction  of  the  Union.  Notwith 
standing  my  refusal  to  attend  the  County  Convention,  I  was 
unanimously  elected  in  that  convention  to  represent  the  county 
in  the  State  Convention.  Thereupon  one  of  my  friends  de 
clared  that  he  knew  that  I  would  not  go  to  Syracuse,  and 


74     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

proposed  to  have  an  alternate  appointed.  But  the  convention 
declined  to  accept  my  refusal  as  final,  and  passed  unanimously 
a  resolution  that  Col.  Lathers  should  be  empowered  to  name 
a  delegate  in  his  place  if  unwilling  to  go  himself.  I  could  not 
resist  this  implied  compliment,  and  I  accepted  the  appointment. 

Every  effort  of  the  conservative  Democrats  to  preserve  the 
unity  of  party  nominations  for  the  Federal  ticket  failed,  how 
ever,  not  only  in  the  State  of  New  York,  but  virtually  over 
the  whole  country.  I  received  many  letters  from  leading 
Democrats  and  Democratic  committees  before  and  immediately 
after  the  Presidential  election  which  showed  that  a  patriotic 
and  earnest  effort  was  made  to  preserve  the  unity  of  the  party 
and  thereby  avert  the  rupture  of  the  Union  which  the  en 
croachments  of  the  fanatical  North  on  the  constitutional  rights 
of  the  South,  combined  with  the  ill-considered  form  assumed 
by  the  natural  resentment  thereat  in  the  South,  were  rendering 
inevitable. 

In  November,  1860,  I  sent  to  five  representative  citizens  of 
Charleston,  South  Carolina,  the  following  letter : 

"  NEW  YORK,  28th  Nov.,  1860. 
"  HENRY  GOURDIN,  ESQ.;  COL.  C.  G.  MEMMINGER;  HON.  A 

G.  MAGRATH  ;  NELSON  MITCHELL,  ESQ.  ;  GEORGE  A.  TREN- 

HOLM,  ESQ. 

"  Dear  Sirs: — The  grave  aspect  of  the  Secession  movement 
in  your  State  alarms  a  large  class  of  your  friends  in  this  State, 
and  induces  the  fear  that  the  usual  influence  of  conservative 
men.  like  yourselves,  has  not  been  exercised  to  check  undue 
excitement,  and  to  engraft  on  laudable  Southern  resistance 
more  deliberate  and  timely  measures  to  enforce  redress  of 
Southern  wrongs. 

"  We  fear  that  your  people  ignore  or  greatly  undervalue  the 
support  and  sympathy,  not  only  of  your  Southern  brethren, 
but  of  a  large  and  important  class  of  men  in  the  Northern 
States,  who  are  battling  most  strenuously,  generously,  and 
potently  in  behalf  of  Southern  rights,  and  against  the  fell 
spirit  of  fanaticism  that  surrounds  them. 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  75 

"  These  men  have  been  driven  into  a  minority  while  defend 
ing,  in  their  respective  localities,  your  rights,  and  the  consti 
tutional  integrity  of  the  country  against  the  fanatical  preju 
dices  and  sectional  demagogism  of  a  powerful  and  aggressive 
home  party. 

"  This  defeat  has  subjected  them,  in  their  municipal  rela 
tions,  to  acts  of  tyranny  and  to  wholesale  pecuniary  exactions 
hitherto  unknown  to  American  legislation,  the  people  of  this 
city  being  subjected  under  the  hostile  party  legislation  of  the 
Republican  State  administration  to  a  degree  of  oppression  ap 
propriate  only  to  a  conquered  province. 

"  Yet  by  many  efforts  and  by  intelligent  and  deliberate 
measures,  we  are  gradually  overcoming  the  fanatical  section 
alism  and  corrupt  demagogism,  which  so  long  have  threatened 
the  disruption  of  our  national  and  State  institutions.  Laying 
aside  old  issues,  the  National  men  of  all  parties  have  rallied 
to  the  rescue  of  Southern  rights,  and  to  the  enforcement  of 
Northern  duties;  and  the  issues  presented  by  them  in  the  na 
tional  election  have  met  with  a  success  unparalleled  in  the 
history  of  sectional  struggles.  Of  about  650,000  votes  cast 
in  this  State,  we  polled  over  300,000,  and  that  under  circum 
stances  of  great  disadvantage  to  ourselves,  and  of  great  ad 
vantage  to  our  adversaries.  The  Republicans  went  into  the 
canvass  a  united  and  well-drilled  party,  eager  for  a  success 
which  promised  power  to  their  organization,  and  lucrative 
places  and  contracts  to  their  leaders.  For  our  contest  with 
this  united  sectional  and  fanatical  organization,  led  by  dema 
gogues  of  great  skill  and  financial  resources,  we  had  but  three 
weeks  in  which  to  fuse  three  mutually  hostile  groups,  whose 
unfortunate  bickerings  and  recriminations  furnished  our  ad 
versaries  with  some  of  their  most  effective  arguments  against 
us ;  the  more  that  these  groups  were  addressed,  in  many  cases, 
by  Southern  men  who  made  it  a  point  to  foment  their  re 
spective  prejudices.  In  addition  to  this  want  of  harmony  which 
we  had  so  little  time  to  ameliorate,  we  had  operating  against 
us  all  the  well  known  dissatisfaction  with  the  present  ad 
ministration,  many  of  the  charges  against  which  are,  I  fear, 


76     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

well  founded.  Yet  it  is  well  known  here  that  if  we  had  had 
but  a  few  weeks'  more  time  we  would  have  carried  the  State, 
notwithstanding  the  unfortunate  want  of  agreement  in  the 
South  as  to  the  nomination.  As  it  is,  we  have  elected  so  many 
additional  congressmen,  as  to  insure  safe  legislation  in  the 
lower  house. 

"  A  revolution  in  the  public  sentiment  of  the  North  regard 
ing  the  questions  connected  writh  the  constitutional  rights  of 
the  South,  is  progressing  with  a  celerity  rarely  paralleled  in 
the  history  of  any  social  question  so  deeply  rooted  in  prejudice 
and  nourished  by  fanaticism.  During  the  canvass,  I  addressed 
large  meetings,  both  in  this  State  and  New  Jersey,  before 
which  I  discussed  slavery  in  all  its  aspects,  socially,  morally 
and  politically.  And  my  remarks  were  always  well  received, 
although  you  know  my  views  on  this  subject  coincide  with 
those  of  Mr.  Calhoun,  whose  utterances  (with  few  exceptions), 
on  great  subjects  of  national  interest  will  yet,  I  hope,  find  a 
response  in  every  Southern  heart  and  become  the  text  book 
of  every  American.  Ten  years  ago  such  remarks  would  not 
have  been  tolerated  for  a  moment  by  any  Northern  audience. 
And  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  many  Southern  men  have  made 
concessions  in  regard  to  this  and  kindred  subjects,  which  are 
quoted  to  our  disadvantage.  Indeed,  the  whole  canvass  was 
characterized  by  an  open  defense  of  slavery  per  se  (as  logically 
and  eloquently  enunciated  by  Charles  O'Conor  in  his  great 
Union  speech  last  winter),  as  well  as  of  the  undoubted  right 
of  the  South,  under  the  protecting  clauses  of  the  Constitu 
tion,  to  enjoy  this  institution  in  the  Territories  as  well  as  in 
the  States.  The  public  mind  is  rapidly  coming  to  understand 
the  force  of  these  arguments,  and  it  only  requires  the  united 
firmness  of  the  whole  South,  to  insure  those  rights  under  the 
Constitution  which,  I  fear,  separate  State  action  cannot  enforce. 

"  These  facts  are  adduced  to  show  that  the  Northern  mind 
is  becoming  indoctrinated  with  wholesome  truths,  which  are 
gradually  and  surely  tending  to  destroy  sectionalism.  And, 
although  the  New  England  element  is  still  a  formidable  bar 
rier,  and,  I  fear,  will  long  resist  the  constitutional  rights  of 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE    UNION  77 

the  South,  yet  a  united,  firm  and  vigorous  demonstration  of  the 
whole  South,  demanding  from  the  new  administration  and 
the  next  Congress  an  unequivocal  recognition  of  every  South 
ern  right,  and  a  practical  and  vigorous  enforcement  of  every 
Northern  duty,  will  be  powerfully  seconded  at  the  North  by 
a  force  both  moral  and  physical  (hitherto  dormant),  that  will 
defy  opposition  and  insure  success.  Should  sectionalism  pre 
vail,  however,  and  the  aggressive  spirit  of  abolition  prevent 
that  moderation  and  justice  after  the  inauguration,  which  have 
been  promised  by  the  leaders  of  the  Republican  party,  the 
cause  of  the  South  will  have  been  strengthened  by  present  for 
bearance,  and  its  adversaries  will  have  been  made  responsible 
for  a  rupture  which  cannot  then  be  avoided  by  the  Southern 
States  with  honor  and  security.  A  convention  of  the  united 
South,  demanding  its  rights  under  the  Constitution,  could  not 
be  resisted  (short  of  downright  revolution),  without  raising 
a  bitter  issue  in  every  State  of  the  Union ;  and  no  administra 
tion  or  party  could  survive  such  an  ordeal.  Nor  is  there  any 
fear  that  the  incoming  administration  desires  such  an  issue, 
however  much  its  extreme  partisans  might  rejoice  to  see  your 
gallant  State,  chafing  under  its  wrongs,  precipitate  itself  into 
the  doubtful  experiment  of  secession. 

"  For  the  practical  success  of  secession  even,  deliberation 
as  to  the  best  measures  and  time  to  unite  all  the  elements 
favorable  to  it  would  be  important;  but  when  you  reflect  on 
the  great  moment  of  the  issue  to  the  State,  and  consider  the 
predominant  advantages  of  a  struggle  within  the  Union,  a 
struggle  in  which  all  the  good  and  true  friends  of  constitu 
tional  liberty  in  every  State  would  aid  and  in  which  the  legis 
lative  and  judicial  branches  of  the  Government  would  be  on 
your  side,  the  argument  seems  irresistible  in  favor  of  trying 
to  live  within  the  Union.  Under  these  conditions  to  resort 
to  the  experiment  of  a  revolution,  which,  even  if  peaceful, 
would  involve  evils  of  a  magnitude  disagreeable  to  contem 
plate,  would  seem  to  be  fool-hardy.  Furthermore  you  would 
renounce  thereby  all  the  power  conferred  upon  you  by  the 
Federal  Government,  and  leave  your  friends  less  able  to  assert 


78     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

your  rights  or  protect  their  own  in  the  coming  Congress ;  and 
this,  at  a  period  vital  to  the  very  existence  of  our  national 
Government,  and  vital  to  the  stability  and  independence  of 
the  Southern  States. 

"  It  is  no  part  of  my  object  to  discuss  the  propriety  of 
separate  State  action,  or  the  abstract  right  of  States  to  secede 
from  a  Union  by  which  its  essential  constitutional  provisions 
have  been  grossly  violated.  The  injured  party,  in  such  a  case, 
has,  at  least,  the  natural  right  of  revolution,  and  few  freemen 
will  hesitate  to  resort  to  such  an  alternative  when  other  reme 
dies  have  been  proved  hopeless.  My  object  is  to  ask  your  con 
sideration  of  the  safer  and  speedier  remedy  within  the  Union, 
through  co-operation  with  your  friends,  North  and  South ; 
and  to  call  your  attention  to  the  probabilities  of  success  in  a 
deliberate  and  organized  effort  under  the  incoming  adminis 
tration,  and  the  new  Congress,  to  obtain  your  Constitutional 
rights.  Failing  in  this,  to  destroy  the  Government  that  re 
fuses  them  would  be  the  only  proceeding  possible. 

"  It  is  true  we  have  been  defeated  under  the  forms  of  the 
Constitution,  and  a  sectional  executive  will  administer  the 
Government ;  yet  he  will  not  have  the  power  to  appoint  so  much 
as  a  cabinet  adviser,  without  the  approval  of  the  Senate,  which 
is  with  us.  Nor  will  he  or  his  party  be  able  to  pass  an  obnox 
ious  law,  since  both  branches  of  the  legislature  are  with  us. 
We  shall  have  the  protection  of  the  judiciary  also,  to  construe 
our  rights  under  existing  laws ;  and  a  large  and  intelligent 
body  of  active  men  in  the  North,  whose  sympathies  are  now 
enlisted,  will  battle  for  the  rights  of  the  South  and  the  perpet 
uation  of  the  Union.  A  large  number  of  the  Republicans  even 
can  be  relied  on,  when  the  questions  of  Southern  rights  present 
themselves  disentangled  from  a  presidential  election.  Such  is 
the  innate  love  of  our  common  country,  with  its  glorious  history 
and  bright  promise,  that  the  threatening  aspects  of  the  situa 
tion  have  already  produced  a  reaction,  which  tells  strongly  on 
public  sentiment,  even  in  Republican  communities.  If  all  these 
promised  advantages  shall  fail  to  secure  the  South  its  con 
stitutional  rights,  I  trust  that  present  moderation  will  but 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  79 

nerve  a  united  South  to  the  firm  determination,  that,  in  or  out 
of  the  Union,  her  institutions  shall  be  protected,  and  her  rights 
preserved. 

"  I  enclose  a  copy  of  a  letter  addressed,  a  few  days  since, 
to  a  distinguished  member  of  the  present  national  administra 
tion,  Howell  Cobb,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  by  my  friend 
General  John  A.  Dix,  a  former  able  Senator  from  this  State. 
He  treats  the  subject  admirably,  and  speaks  the  sentiments  of 
a  large  and  influential  class,  whose  efforts  in  favor  of  Southern 
rights  can  be  relied  upon. 

"  I  have  conversed  with  him,  with  Charles  O'Conor,  Esq., 
and  a  large  number  of  distinguished  men,  whose  hearts  are 
with  the  South,  and  whose  exertions  and  large  pecuniary  con 
tributions  during  the  recent  contest  prove  their  earnestness 
in  the  cause.  These  men  sincerely  desire  that  the  South  should 
be  united  for  the  coming  contest  under  the  new  administration. 

"  But  should  a  joint  demand  of  a  Southern  Convention  of 
the  States  aggrieved  fail  to  secure  a  peaceful  solution  of  the 
problem,  they  would  regard  secession  as  the  only  remedy  left 
for  the  South,  and  the  North  as  powerless  to  resist  it.  If  you 
think  a  delegation  of  leading  men  from  the  State  of  New 
York,  coming  to  you  in  the  capacity  of  consulting  and  sympa 
thizing  friends,  would  be  favorably  received,  we  will  cheer 
fully  send  you  such  a  delegation.  I  am  sanguine,  that  much 
mutual  advantage  would  be  derived  from  such  a  kindly  inter 
change  of  sentiments  and  that  the  mutual  confidence  which 
ought  to  exist  between  men  battling  for  the  same  objects,  and 
resisting  the  same  evils  would  thereby  be  created.  This  time 
seems  to  be  peculiarly  opportune  for  such  a  meeting,  because 
there  are  now  no  disturbing  party  favorites  to  interfere  with 
its  purposes,  as  was  unfortunately  the  case  at  the  last  Con 
vention  at  Charleston  and  because  the  alarming  position  of  the 
country  calls  for  the  co-operation  of  the  good  and  influential 
men  of  every  section. 

"  I  take  the  liberty  of  addressing  you  on  this  subject,  feeling 
that  my  residence  in  the  State  of  New  York  does  not  deprive 
me  of  the  right  to  offer  my  advice  and  services  to  my  old 


8o     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

fellow-citizens,  with  whose  interests  I  hope  I  shall  never  fail 
to  sympathize,  and  whose  honor  and  safety  I  esteem  next  to 
my  own.  I  received  my  first  military  commission  from  the 
lamented  Governor  Butler;  and  I  shall  always  be  ready  to 
respond  to  the  call  of  his  successor,  should  the  State  need 
her  absent  sons  to  aid  in  the  defence  of  her  soil. 

"  I  am  conscious  of  the  delicate  nature  of  my  proposition, 
and  of  the  various  sinister  motives  that  open  enemies  or  in 
judicious  friends  might  attribute  to  either  your  action  at  the 
South  or  ours  at  the  North  in  conforming  to  it.  Yet  I  am 
satisfied  that  you  will  rely  on  my  sincerity,  and  I  hope  you 
will  think  favorably  of  the  project,  as  a  practical  means  of 
allaying  further  excitement  in  your  section,  and  enlisting 
healthy  public  sentiment  in  ours. 

"  I  would  further  remark,  in  confirmation  of  my  views,  that 
I  had  a  long  and  satisfactory  interview  with  a  distinguished 
Republican  leader  yesterday — an  interview  for  the  purpose 
of  learning  the  probable  policy  of  the  party.  I  invited  the 
utmost  candor  and  avowed  my  intention  of  communicating 
the  information  to  influential  persons  in  the  South.  He  said 
that  while  the  policy  of  the  Republican  party  could  not  be 
entirely  ignored,  yet  the  South  should  have  no  cause  to  com 
plain  ;  that  the  fugitive  slave  law  should  be  practically  en 
forced  in  every  State,  and  that  no  alteration  tending  in  the 
least  to  render  it  less  effective  to  the  interests  of  the  South, 
should  be  countenanced.  I  am  satisfied  that  the  Republican 
party  leaders  will  do  their  utmost  to  calm  public  feeling;  and 
that  they  have  the  power,  and  the  disposition,  to  curb  the  aboli 
tion  element  so  strongly  represented  in  the  party  and  perhaps 
encouraged  by  them  hitherto  for  the  sake  of  getting  into  power. 

"  I  am  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

u  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

To  this  letter  I  received  the  following  answers : 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  81 

"  CHARLESTON,  Dec.  12,  1860. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  New  York. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — Pardon  me  for  having  delayed  so  long  an 
answer  to  your  letter  of  Nov.  28,  dictated  as  it  was  by  motives 
which  are  to  be  respected  and  appreciated.  It  would  have 
been  considered  sooner,  but  some  of  the  parties  to  whom  the 
enclosure  was  addressed  were  absent  from  the  city  when  it 
was  received.  I  have  only  seen  them  within  the  last  day  or 
two.  Trenholm  is  still  in  Columbia  and  will  probably  write 
you  from  that  place.  Mr.  Mitchell  and  Mr.  Memminger,  re 
garded,  as  you  know,  as  conservative  men,  concur  with  Judge 
Magrath  and  myself,  that  the  course  of  South  Carolina  cannot 
be  changed,  and  that  a  visit,  under  the  circumstances,  of  gentle 
men  such  as  you  name,  however  great  the  respect  entertained 
for  them  by  our  people,  or  however  highly  their  motives  are 
to  be  appreciated,  would  be  without  influence  and  utterly  use 
less  for  the  purposes  indicated.  Indeed,  you  must  yourself 
have  already  seen  this,  for  your  letter  had  hardly  been  written, 
when  Vermont,  by  a  large  majority,  refused  to  repeal  the 
'  Liberty  laws' ;  and  the  discussion  in  Congress,  and  the  tone 
of  the  Republican  press  cannot  fail  to  have  satisfied  you  how 
little  the  South  has  to  expect  from  any  such  change  of  senti 
ment  as  you  inform  us  is  going  on  with  so  much  celerity  at 
the  North.  So  far  from  any  change  favorable  to  the  recogni 
tion  of  the  just  claims  of  the  South,  they  tend  more  than 
ever  to  convince  our  people  that  there  is  no  hope  for  them 
in  the  Union  and  that  their  only  safety  is  being  masters  of 
their  own  destiny.  The  sooner  the  Northern  States  shall 
realize  this  fixed  sentiment  of  the  South,  the  better,  and  it  is 
for  the  North  to  decide  whether  a  people,  seeking  their  own 
safety  under  the  sacred  panoply  of  their  own  State  sovereignty, 
shall  be  permitted  to  do  so  peaceably.  Out  of  the  Union, 
feeling  and  vindicating  their  own  equality,  they  will  be  ready 
to  trade,  and  to  establish  with  the  Northern  States  as  friendly 
relations  as  they  will  with  any  other  people,  or  as  have  existed 
between  them  before.  But  if  war  is  to  be  forced  upon  the 


82     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

South,  to  compel  her  submission,  her  condition  will  be  no 
worse  than  that  which  will  be  ultimately  forced  upon  her  by 
Republican  rule.  Secession,  therefore,  is  the  final  determina 
tion  of  the  people  of  our  State,  and  which  cannot  be  changed. 
I  would  make  a  single  remark  upon  General  Dix's  letter  to 
Mr.  Cobb,  a  copy  of  which  you  have  been  kind  enough  to  send 
me.  It  is  impossible  to  separate  Mr.  Lincoln's  election,  al 
though  in  conformity  with  the  forms  of  the  Constitution,  from 
the  fact  that  he  accepted,  and  became  the  candidate  of  a  party 
upon  a  platform  of  declared  hostility  to  the  South  committed 
against  the  further  extension  of  slavery,  by  claiming  to  ex 
clude  slavery  from  the  Territories  and  looking  to  the  ultimate 
emancipation  of  the  slaves  throughout  the  South,  by  changes 
in  the  Constitution  to  be  effected  in  part  by  preventing  any 
increase  of  slave  States,  thus  rendering  the  Constitution,  de 
signed  for  the  safety  and  protection  of  all  the  smaller  and  the 
weaker  of  the  States  in  the  Union,  the  instrument,  the  mis 
named  '  legal '  instrument,  of  our  destruction.  Mr.  Polk,  against 
his  own  convictions,  had  to  declare  that  the  title  of  the  United 
States  to  the  *  whole  of  Oregon  was  unquestioned  '  because 
the  Convention  which  nominated  him  so  declared  it;  and  very 
reluctantly  he  was  forced  to  bring  forward  his  anti-tariff 
measures  for  the  same  reason.  Is  it  not  asking  too  much  of 
the  people  of  Carolina  and  the  Southern  States,  to  shut  their 
eyes  to  the  great  principles  involved  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
Lincoln,  and  to  submit,  simply  because  the  forms  of  the  Con 
stitution  have  been  observed?  To  lose  sight  of  the  platform 
of  principles  and  policy  which  he  accepted,  upon  which  he 
has  been  elected,  and  which  the  party  which  elected  him  claim 
that  he  should  carry  out? 

"  I  am,  very  dear  Sir, 

"  Very  Resp'y  and  truly 
"  Yr  obt  Svt 

"  H.  GOURDIN." 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE    UNION  83 

"  CHARLESTON,  Dec'r.   13,   1860.'' 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  New  York. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  wrote  to  you  yesterday  in  answer  to  your 
letter  of  the  28th  ult.  stating  that  Messrs.  Magrath,  Mem- 
minger  and  Mitchell  concurred  with  me  in  the  opinion  that  the 
course  of  South  Carolina  could  not  now  be  changed,  and  that 
such  a  committee  of  gentlemen  as  you  proposed  to  send  to  the 
Convention,  however  highly  respected  by  us,  or  however  highly 
their  virtues  might  or  would  be  appreciated,  would  be  without 
influence  now  and  wholly  useless  for  the  purposes  indicated. 
Judge  Magrath  and  myself  desiring  to  express  to  you  more 
fully  our  views,  I  send  you  by  mail  to-day  a  letter  signed  by 
us,  as  further  answer  to  your  letter  of  the  28th  Nov.,  which 
I  hope  will  be  in  time  for  your  purposes. 

"  I  am  very  Respy 

"Yr.  Obt.  Svt. 

"  H.    GOURDIN," 

"  CHARLESTON,  So.  CA.,  8th  Dec.,  1860. 
"  To  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  New  York. 

"  Dear  Sir: — Your  letter  of  the  28th  November  we  have  re 
ceived  and  read.  We  will  answer  in  the  same  spirit  of  frank 
ness  and  candor  with  which  it  is  written.  '  The  grave  aspect 
of  the  secession  movement '  in  this  State  should  not  surprise 
our  *  friends  '  in  any  State.  It  is  the  natural  and  necessary 
consequence  of  the  controlling  public  opinion  in  the  non- 
slaveholding  States  in  relation  to  our  rights  and  our  property. 
There  is  no  '  undue  excitement/  and  '  the  usual  influence  of 
conservative  men  '  has  been  steadily  and  urgently  exercised 
in  recommending  to  all  with  whom  their  opinions  would  have 
weight,  the  secession  of  this  State  as  the  necessary  and  only 
mode  of  '  Southern  resistance,'  and  the  most  '  deliberate  and 
timely  measure,  to  enforce  redress  of  Southern  wrongs.' 

11  You  mistake  us  much  when  you  '  fear  that  your  four] 
people  ignore,  or  greatly  undervalue,  the  support  and  sympa 
thy  '  of  our  Southern  brethren.  On  the  contrary,  the  people 


84     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

of  this  State  have  given  the  most  earnest  evidence  of  their 
conviction  of  its  value,  when  for  years  they  have  waited  until 
circumstances  would  either  ensure  a  concurrence  with  them 
in  their  conclusions  as  to  the  certain  tendencies  of  the  Gov 
ernment,  or  signify  that  it  would  be  necessary  for  the  State 
to  consult  her  safety  unaided  and  alone.  These  circumstances 
have  now  been  developed  in  the  late  Presidential  election.  The 
result  of  that  election  would  have  decided  the  course  of  this 
State,  had  no  other  Slaveholding  State  been  willing  to  unite 
with  her.  But  the  action  of  other  Slaveholding  States,  espe 
cially  those  known  as  the  Cotton  States,  will  satisfy  you  that, 
had  this  State  pursued  any  other  course  than  that  she  has 
chosen,  she  would  not  have  had  their  '  support  and  sympathy,' 
and  would  not  have  deserved  either. 

"  Nor  have  the  people  of  this  State  been  insensible  of  the 
efforts  of  those  who,  in  the  non-slaveholding  States,  have 
'  generously  and  potently '  battled  '  in  behalf  of  Southern 
rights  against  the  fell  spirit  of  fanaticism  which  surrounds 
them.' 

"  The  rights  of  the  Slaveholding  States  have  only  been,  while 
these  States  remained  in  the  Union,  exposed  to  the  influence 
of  '  this  fell  spirit  of  fanaticism.'  Their  sacrifice  to  the  Union 
has  been  shown  in  the  spirit  of  forbearance  with  which  they 
have  adhered  to  it,  and  in  doing  so  been  exposed  to  constant 
attacks ;  while  out  of  it,  and  in  themselves,  and,  we  may  say, 
each  for  itself,  they  possessed  the  most  abundant  capacity  to 
maintain  their  institutions,  and  defend  their  rights.  And  al 
though  the  efforts  of  those  who  have  thus  '  generously  and 
potently  '  battled  with  the  fanatical  spirit  which  now  governs 
your  State,  was  ostensibly  and  honestly  exercised  in  over 
coming  that  sentiment  which  was  breathing  out  its  hatred  of 
us  and  ours :  we  were  particularly  interested  in  the  contest,  as 
it  was  conducted  in  your  State  and  in  other  States,  because 
while  impotent  to  affect  us,  even  if  it  gained  control  over  you, 
we  were  yet  forced  to  see  that  in  such  control  you  would  be  ex 
posed  to  fearful  peril  in  life,  liberty  and  property.  We  knew 
that  its  essential  element  was  a  lawless  spirit,  insolent  in  its 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  85 

assumption  of  a  code  of  morals  suited  only  to  the  development 
of  its  own  ends,  and  reckless  of  the  restraints  which  society 
imposes  upon  those  who  compose  it. 

'''  To  you  the  progress  of  this  sentiment  was  most  dangerous 
when  in  its  incipiency  it  undertook  to  decide  a  question  of 
property,  to  determine  the  existence  of  private  rights.  Nor 
have  we  ever  doubted  but  that  whenever  by  our  separation 
from  the  Union,  the  objects  which  seemed  to  be  the  special 
aim  of  this  fanaticism  should  be  withdrawn  forever  from  those 
who  were  preparing  to  assail  it;  upon  you  and  your  rights 
and  your  property  would  be  illustrated  the  practical  applica 
tion  of  those  doctrines,  which  ostensibly  were  being  prepared 
for  our  destruction. 

"  Interested  therefore  in  the  political  contest  which  has  been 
ended  by  the  success  of  the  Republican  party,  we  have  watched 
it,  because  it  would  determine  our  course,  not  because  it  in 
volved  our  safety. 

"  With  the  people  of  this  State  and  of  the  cotton  slavehold- 
ing  States,  the  failure  of  the  attempts  which  were  made  to 
stem  the  tide  of  Abolition  sentiment,  is  chiefly  regretted  be 
cause  of  the  desolating  influences  it  must  exercise  within  the 
limits  of  those  States  where  it  prevails,  upon  the  persons  and 
property,  the  life  and  liberty  of  those  who  within  those  limits 
may  become  the  object  of  its  wrath. 

"  We  cannot,  therefore,  admit  the  correctness  of  your  state 
ment,  that  they,  whose  efforts  to  arrest  these  measures  you 
have  spoken  of  (not  more  highly  than  they  deserve),  'have 
been  driven  into  a  minority  while  defending  your  [our]  rights' ; 
for  the  principles  upon  which  our  rights  were  attacked  were 
the  principles  which  would  and  will  justify  an  attack  upon 
any  and  all  rights  guaranteed  by  all  laws  human  or  divine. 
But  it  is  true  that  they  have  been  driven  into  a  minority  in 
defense  '  of  the  constitutional  integrity  of  the  country/  and 
because  of  their  conduct  in  this  regard  they  have  experienced 
'  the  fanatical  prejudices  and  sectional  demagogism  of  a  pow 
erful  and  aggressive  home  party.'  And  if  in  consequence  of 
their  defeat,  they  are  in  their  '  municipal  relations  '  exposed 


86     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

to  acts  of  tyranny  and  wholesale  pecuniary  exactions  hitherto 
unknown  to  American  citizens;  and  the  people  of  this  city 
[New  York]  are  subjected  '  under  the  hostile  party  legisla 
tion  of  the  Republican  State  administration  to  a  degree  of 
oppression  appropriate  only  to  a  conquered  province/  it  must 
have  already  been  made  apparent  to  you,  that  in  your  own 
State  a  party  has  obtained  political  control  which  in  the  ex 
ercise  of  its  power  will  become  a  bitter,  blighting  curse ! 
Surely  it  is  not  to  such  companionship  you  would  invite  us — 
not  to  such  persons  that  you  would  advise  us  to  commit  the 
guardianship  of  our  liberties,  our  lives,  our  honor  or  our 
property. 

"  You  think  that  you  are  gradually  overcoming  this  '  fanatical 
sectionalism  and  corrupt  demagogism.'  We  should  be  glad 
to  agree  with  you,  but  we  have  read  the  law  of  fanaticism  with 
other  lights,  if  in  any  case  where  it  has  obtained  power  equal 
to  that  now  held  by  the  Republican  States,  it  was  stayed  in 
its  course  until  it  destroyed  the  object  against  which  it  was 
directed  or  was  destroyed  by  it.  You  have  yet  to  realize  for 
yourselves  the  increase  of  that  Republican  party  under  the 
fostering  influence  of  an  immense  Executive  patronage ;  ad 
ministered  so  as  to  make  the  patronage  of  every  State  tributary 
to  the  accomplishment  of  its  great  end.  You  have  as  yet 
heard  only  its  threats,  you  are  yet  to  feel  its  power.  And  we 
deeply  sympathize  with  you  when  that  power  will  be  exercised 
upon  you  and  against  you  in  all  the  plenitude  of  agrarian 
violence  and  atheistic  cruelty. 

"  You  assure  us  that  a  Revolution  in  public  sentiment  of  the 
North  in  relation  to  the  Constitutional  rights  of  the  South 
is  progressing  with  great  celerity — we  are  sure  you  are  mis 
taken.  That  there  ever  has  been  a  denial  of  the  rights  of  the 
South  is  cause  enough  for  the  South  to  take  care,  that  never 
again  shall  those  rights  be  denied.  But  if  it  were,  as  you 
suppose,  is  that  change  of  opinion  honest?  In  what  way  have 
we  made  our  rights  plainer  than  they  always  have  been  and 
were  when  they  were  hitherto  denied?  There  was  then  the 
same  evidence  of  their  existence,  the  same  law  to  support  them 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  87 

which  is  now  before  the  People  of  the  non-slaveholding  States. 
They  decided  that  evidence  to  be  not  sufficient,  that  Law  to 
be  not  binding.  What  now  makes  this  one  sufficient  or  the 
other  binding?  In  no  unkind  spirit  we  say,  it  is  because  of 
a  deliberate  calculation  of  the  disadvantage  which  the)7  see 
must  result  to  them  from  our  separation.  It  teaches  us  the 
unquestionable  truth  that  if  we  can  defend  our  rights  then 
will  they  be  respected,  and  if  we  cannot,  then  will  they  be 
assailed  and  denied.  We  cannot  have  faith  in  the  forbearance 
which  results  from  selfish  apprehension,  nor  can  we  appreciate 
that  fraternization  which  compels  us  to  wear  arms  against 
our  allies. 

"  You  tell  us  that  the  people  of  the  North  will  now  listen  to 
opinions  concerning  the  lawfulness  of  slavery,  which  ten  years 
ago  they  would  not  have  tolerated.  That  you  and  others  have 
spoken  plainly  and  truly  to  that  people  will  be  to  you  a  high 
satisfaction,  under  the  adverse  circumstances  which  will  surely 
follow  in  the  train  of  events  consequent  upon  the  new  adminis 
tration  of  that  which  has  been  the  government  of  the  United 
States. 

"  But  the  truths  which  you  have  spoken  have  met  with  no 
response.  The  noble  conduct  of  Mr.  O'Conor  has  stimulated 
no  one  to  follow  him  in  his  course ;  and  the  bold  and  stirring 
appeals  of  Mr.  Gushing  have  fallen  upon  troubled  ears,  but 
unsympathizing  hearts.  You  never  can  teach  the  people  of 
the  non-slaveholding  States,  that  our  system  of  slavery  is  con 
sistent  with  all  the  truths  of  religion,  and  enforces  in  its 
practical  administration  the  highest  obligations  of  morality. 
They  believe  the  reverse  of  all  this ;  and  believing  thus,  it  may 
be  that  under  a  panic  or  controlled  by  some  apprehension,  they 
for  the  time  smother  their  sentiments.  But  in  proportion  to 
the  controlling  influence  of  the  necessity  which  for  that  time 
imposes  the  restraint  of  silence  and  submission,  will  be  the 
irrepressible  zeal  to  vent  their  anger  and  gratify  their  pent  up 
fury,  when  they  may  do  so  without  the  apprehension  of  per 
nicious  results  to  themselves ;  or  when  perhaps  some  deep  ex 
citement  may  make  them  for  the  time  insensible  and  indifferent 


88     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

to  the  suggestions  of  prudence.  There  are  many  men,  good 
men  and  honest,  who  suppose  that  our  right  to  the  property 
we  hold  in  our  slaves  is  to  be  recognized  by  them  because  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States.  And  therefore  that 
the  source  of  our  right  and  their  obligation  is  in  that  instru 
ment,  not  heeding  that  this  source  of  their  obligation  and  our 
right,  as  they  apprehend  it,  is  not  only  unsound  in  itself;  but 
that  it  operates  more  directly  to  stimulate  the  attacks  which 
have  been  made  upon  us,  than  any  position  which  they  could 
have  taken.  For  if  the  Constitution  is  the  source  of  their  obli 
gation  and  of  our  right,  then  to  change  that  Instrument  is 
to  destroy  both.  To  obtain  therefore  the  control  of  power 
by  which  the  Constitution  may  be  changed,  becomes  and  is  the 
great  object  of  all  their  movements.  That  change,  with  the 
rapid  multiplication  of  non-slaveholding  States,  may  be  now 
ascertained  as  certain  to  happen,  and  the  consequences  result 
ing  therefrom  be  realized  within  a  period  not  distant,  unless 
the  right  of  a  State  to  secede  may  be  exercised  by  it,  and  it 
be  enabled  thus  to  avoid  a  doom  which  otherwise  would  be 
inevitable  and  overwhelming.  You  can  thus  easily  see  the 
denial  of  the  right  of  Secession  of  a  State,  is  a  refusal  to  it 
of  the  privilege  of  securing  to  its  citizens  the  protection  of 
life,  liberty  and  property,  and  consigns  it  and  them  to  a  servi 
tude  the  most  hopeless  and  hapless ;  compared  to  which  the 
condition  of  the  negro,  in  our  midst,  would  be  that  of  perfect 
beatitude.  When  you  refer  to  a  change  in  the  opinion  of 
those  who  have  hitherto  been  hostile  to  us,  we  cannot  then 
understand  or  agree  with  you,  if  by  it  you  mean  an  honest 
change.  For  more  than  a  quarter  of  a  century  sentiments 
hostile  to  us  and  our  Institutions  have  been  unceasingly  pro 
claimed  in  the  forum,  taught  in  the  school  and  preached  in 
the  pulpit.  The  present  generation  is  controlled  and  that  which 
is  coming  upon  the  theatre  of  life  will  be  governed  by  pre 
cepts  which  they  have  imbibed  from  their  early  infancy,  which 
have  grown  with  their  growth  and  strengthened  with  their 
strength.  Has  anyone  attempted  to  remove  a  prejudice  from 
the  mind  of  a  single  individual  and  been  encouraged  with  the 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE   UNION  89 

idea  of  accomplishing  the  same  work,  with  ten  or  fifty  or  a 
hundred;  or  a  thousand?  And  if  the  effort  is  addressed  to 
millions,  does  not  the  proposition  as  a  work  to  be  accomplished 
by  means  merely  human  become  overwhelming?  And  if  you 
consider  that  while  you  are  thus  addressing  yourself  to  the 
exercise  of  mere  reason,  other  stronger  influences  are  operat 
ing  against  you ;  that  the  schools  prepare  the  auditor  to  resist 
your  arguments;  the  pulpit  destroys  your  appeal  however 
strong;  that  you  are  made  to  appear  the  apologist  of  crime, 
the  advocate  of  what  is  immoral;  the  subverter  of  what  is 
divine;  and  with  such  influences  against  you  where  is  your 
hope;  where  is  your  chance  of  success? 

"  When  you  assure  us  of  the  protection  which  we  derive  from 
the  Congress  as  the  means  of  counteracting  the  designs  of  the 
Executive ;  and  the  Supreme  Court  as  favorable  to  our  just 
rights ;  you  would,  if  you  were  justified  in  the  statement,  give 
us  assurance  of  safety  from  sources,  which  are  incapable  of 
affording  it,  if  they  were  willing  to  do  so.  But  it  involves 
moreover  the  supposition  of  a  reference  of  our  rights  to  Tri 
bunals  whose  authority  to  consider  or  decide  upon  them,  we 
repudiate  and  deny.  Neither  Congress  nor  the  Supreme  Court 
has  any  power  to  decide  any  question  for  us  in  relation  to 
our  property  in  our  slaves.  Both  of  these  Departments  of 
Government  have  under  the  Constitution  certain  obligations 
to  perform  in  relation  to  our  recovery  of  that  property.  Both 
may  have  attempted  to  discharge  those  obligations,  but  both 
have  signally  failed.  Many  States  have  plainly  and  positively 
refused  to  recognize  their  constitutional  obligations.  The  Act 
of  Congress  is  a  dead  letter  in  its  statutes.  The  Supreme  Court 
utters  its  Decrees  only  to  be  derided  and  despised.  Both  De 
partments,  if  not  now,  may  be  considered  within  the  control 
of  the  Republican  party :  and  both  will  soon  become  mighty 
instruments  of  corruption,  injustice  and  wrong. 

"  As  to  the  probable  course  of  the  President  elect,  permit  us 
to  say  that  we  prefer  to  hear  what  he  says  than  any  Republican 
leader;  and  that  any  Republican  leader  is  indifferent  authority 
with  us  upon  any  question  of  political  justice  or  truth.  It  does 


90     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

so  happen,  however,  that  within  a  few  days,  from  a  Republican 
Committee  in  the  City  of  New  York,  we  have  known  of  a 
letter  inviting  a  perusal  of  the  opinion  of  Mr.  Lincoln  as  pre 
pared  by  himself;  and  suggesting  that  after  such  perusal  we 
would  see  how  groundless  was  the  alleged  wrong  complained 
of  by  the  South.  We  have  carefully  perused  that  record.  In 
it  we  find  that  Mr.  Lincoln  denies  that  there  is  any  such  thing 
as  property  in  slaves,  denies  that  the  Supreme  Court  has  ever 
so  decided,  denies  that  it  can  so  decide  with  consistency  or 
truth,  and  tolerates  the  continuance  of  slavery  in  the  States 
where  it  exists  upon  the  ground  of  a  present  existing  necessity. 
In  this  by  necessary  implication  involving  the  assertion  of  a 
power  to  remove  it  when  the  necessity  shall  not  be  operative 
to  prevent  it;  and,  of  course,  in  that,  assuming  the  power  to 
determine  when  and  how  that  necessity  will  be  regarded  as 
not  operating  to  prevent  the  denial  of  emancipation  to  our 
negroes. 

"  We  need  not  suggest  to  you  all  that  is  involved  in  this 
opinion.  It  speaks  for  itself.  A  President  who  does  not  be 
lieve  that  a  negro  held  in  servitude  is  property,  must  extend 
to  that  negro  the  protection  which  the  law  of  the  United  States 
provides  for  a  citizen.  This  is  his  plain  duty  which  he  swears 
to  perform,  if  he  truly  expresses  his  opinion.  Can  you  ask 
us  to  confide  in  this  man?  Can  we  believe  him,  who,  if  he 
does  for  us  what  you  say  he  will,  will  give  us  a  violated  oath 
to  his  God  as  the  guaranty  of  his  truth  to  the  South  ?  It  was 
due  to  the  earnestness  of  your  letter  that  we  should  write  to 
you  as  fully  as  we  have  done.  Our  purpose  is  fixed ;  our  course 
is  certain.  We  have  adhered  to  the  Union,  while  in  it  there 
remained  for  us  respect  for  our  State  or  regard  for  the  rights 
of  her  citizens.  And  whatever  fortune  may  betide  our  State, 
there  is  nothing  which  she  has  done  in  the  past  to  justify  re 
proach,  while  in  the  future  hopefully  she  seeks  for  her  people 
that  peace,  safety  and  happiness  which  it  is  her  duty  to  secure 
for  them. 

"  It  will  appear  to  you,  then,  that  the  presence  of  any  persons 
among  us,  however  respectable,  charged  with  the  task  of  urg- 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE   UNION  91 

ing  upon  us  a  change  of  our  purpose,  would  be  unprofitable 
and  unpleasant. 

"  We  are,  dear  sir,  with  great  respect,  your  obedient  serv 
ants.  "A.  G.  MAGRATH, 

"  H.  GOURDIN/' 

December  10,  in  pursuance  of  the  project  indicated  in  my 
letter  to  the  representative  citizens  of  Charleston,  seventeen 
conservative  men  (of  whom  I  am  the  only  survivor),  drew 
up  the  following  circular  letter  and  sent  it  to  several  hundred 
distinguished  residents  of  the  City  and  State  of  New  York. 

"  NEW  YORK,  Dec.  loth,  1860. 

"Dear  Sir: — The  undersigned,  deeming  it  the  duty  of  all 
patriotic  citizens,  in  a  crisis  like  the  present,  to  do  what  they 
can  to  provide  a  way  of  escape  from  the  calamities  which 
threaten  us — not  to  say  are  already  upon  us — respectfully  re 
quest  you  to  meet  a  number  of  other  gentlemen,  to  whom 
this  circular  will  be  sent,  at  the  office  of  Richard  Lathers,  33 
Pine  Street,  on  Saturday,  the  I5th  inst.,  at  12  o'clock,  for  con 
sultation  and  mutual  counsel  with  a  view  to  the  adoption  of 
such  measures,  if  any  can  be  devised,  as  will  tend  to  heal  the 
present  dissensions,  and  restore  our  once  happy  country  to 
peaceful  and  harmonious  relations. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

*'  WATTS  SHERMAN,  WILLIAM  B.  ASTOR, 

"  JOHN  A.  Dix,  JAMES  T.  BRADY, 

"  ERASTUS  BROOKS,  AUGUSTUS   SCHELL, 

"  C.  COMSTOCK,  of  Albany,  STEWART  BROWN, 

"  GUSTAVUS  W.  SMITH,  GERARD  HALLOCK, 

"  EDWIN  CROSSWELL,  GEO.  E.  BALDWIN, 

"  WILSON  G.  HUNT,  JAMES  W.  BEEKMAN, 

"  JAMES  T.  SOUTTER,  RICHARD  LATHERS, 

"  WASHINGTON  HUNT,  of  Lockport." 

This  meeting  was  not  intended  to  be  a  popular  one,  but 
was  to  be  limited  to  a  conference  of  prominent  public  men, 


92     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

regardless  of  their  political  affiliations,  "  for  consultation  and 
mutual  counsel."  The  large  number  of  cordial  and  prompt 
acceptances  and  the  interest  displayed  by  the  press  and  by 
leading  citizens  satisfied  the  committee,  however,  that,  the 
office  designated  would  not  be  large  enough  to  accommodate 
those  who  would  attend,  so  they  rented  a  couple  of  new  stores 
on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  connecting  them  by  an  arch 
way  in  the  partition  wall. 

I  had  the  privilege  of  calling  this  meeting  to  order.  Charles 
O'Conor,  the  recognized  leader  of  the  New  York  bar  at  this 
time,  was  elected  chairman,  and  James  F.  Cox,  William  B. 
B.  Clerke,  and  Oliver  G.  Carter  secretaries. 

Mr.  O'Conor,  on  taking  the  chair,  spoke  as  follows : 

"  I  sincerely  regret  that  it  was  not  your  pleasure  to  select 
some  other  gentleman  as  chairman  of  this  meeting.  In  these 
times,  it  is  more  important  that  we  should  exhibit  to  the  public 
mind  accessions  to  our  ranks — to  that  class  of  our  people  who 
have  given  no  cause  for  excitement,  and  who  have  done  noth 
ing  to  sunder  the  ties  of  affection  by  which  the  people  of  these 
United  States  were  once  held  together.  I  should  rather,  much 
rather,  that  this  meeting  could  be  presided  over  by  some  gen 
tleman,  remarkable,  if  you  please,  for  not  having  hitherto  mani 
fested  much  interest  in  this  question,  or  remarkable,  like 
Senator  Dixon  of  Connecticut,  who  a  day  or  two  since,  stepping 
forth  from  the  ranks  of  the  so-called  Republican  party,  and 
placing  himself  before  this  country  as  a  true-hearted  Ameri 
can,  devoted  to  conciliation,  to  harmony,  to  holding  us  together, 
to  perpetuating  our  interests  and  our  Union,  proclaimed  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  the  doctrine  of  peace,  and  made 
a  manly  effort  in  his  high  place — who,  separating  himself,  as 
I  say,  from  those  who  were  at  least  suspected,  and  with  whom 
he  had  been  associated,  made  an  effort  worthy  of  the  occasion 
and  likely  to  be  beneficial  in  its  influence.  I  have  no  other 
objection  to  appear  here,  save  that  my  appearance  does  not 
indicate  the  presence  of  a  new  champion  for  Union,  a  new  vin 
dicator  of  concord,  a  new  foe  to  causes  of  irritation  and  dis- 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE   UNION  93 

sension,  but  is  a  mere  indication — permit  me  to  say  it — that 
those  who  have  been  always  faithful  are  faithful  still. 

"  From  these  personal  remarks  I  pass  to  a  brief  considera 
tion  of  the  question  that  has  brought  us  together.  Gentlemen, 
in  a  position  of  entire  seclusion  from  political  interests  and 
public  affairs,  I  have  had  occasion,  not  for  a  week,  a  month, 
or  a  single  year,  but  for  a  number  of  years,  to  study  with  atten 
tion  the  grave  question  now  presented  to  us  by  the  action  of 
political  parties ;  and  I  have  seen,  as  I  conceive,  during  a  period 
of  some  years'  duration,  a  tendency  in  political  action  that,  in 
my  judgment,  necessarily  led,  as  an  unavoidable  consequence, 
to  a  dissolution  of  this  Union.  Political  parties  should  never 
be  divided  upon  moral  questions,  as  they  are  called.  In  the 
phrase  '  moral '  I  include  the  whole  circle  of  religious  opinion. 
And  political  parties  can  never  be  beneficially  formed  in  a  free 
State,  founded  upon  the  odium  and  detestation  in  which 
one  party  is  required  to  hold  the  life,  walk,  conversation,  and 
morals,  or  the  religious  opinions  of  another.  It  hence  follows 
that  when  politicians  seeking  for  some  issue  upon  which  to 
divide  the  community,  selected  as  their  point,  as  their  banner, 
'  Odium  against  Negro  Slavery,'  they  selected  an  issue  which 
necessarily  led  sooner  or  later  to  a  dissolution  of  the  Union. 
It  was — and  no  truer  phrase  could  have  been  uttered ;  I 
find  no  fault  with  the  expression — it  was  necessarily  an  '  irre 
pressible  conflict,'  in  which  one  party  or  the  other  must  be  ab 
solutely  subdued,  so  that  it  could  no  longer  sustain,  in  any 
degree,  the  contest  with  the  other.  I  do  not  think  it  was  an 
'  irrepressible  conflict '  in  any  of  the  senses  in  which  the  term 
has  been  used,  or  in  the  way  in  which  it  was  understood  by 
those  who  uttered  it;  but  it  was  necessarily  an  irrepressible 
conflict.  I  cannot  imagine  it  to  be  possible  that  two  distinct 
nations — and  each  of  these  States  is,  for  certain  political  pur 
poses,  and  for  all  the  purposes  of  this  question,  a  distinct  na 
tion — that  two  distinct  nations  can  live  together  in  one  civil 
government,  each  entertaining  an  utter  detestation  of  the  life 
and  morals  of  the  other.  And  permit  me  to  say  in  this  con 
nection  that  when  I  speak  of  nations  I  am  to  be  understood 


94     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

as  referring  to  the  effective  political  majority.  The  effective 
political  majority  of  a  State  in  this  Union  speaks  the  voice  of 
the  State.  They  are  the  nation;  the  minority  are  a  nullity; 
they  have  no  voice  or  power.  It  hence  follows  that  when  an 
utter  detestation  of  the  life  and  morals  of  the  people  of  Caro 
lina  has  become  the  basis  of  a  political  party  in  New  York, 
and  that  political  party  acquires  an  ascendency  in  the  political 
affairs  of  the  government,  these  two  States  cannot  live  together, 
except  in  the  relation  of  oppressor  and  oppressed.  The  more 
powerful  will  trample  on  the  weaker.  It  may  trample  on  the 
weaker  according  to  some  written  constitution,  so  that  there 
will  be  no  direct  violation  of  its  letter.  It  may  trample  upon 
it  in  a  way  justifiable  by  some  course  of  argument  as  conform 
able  to  law,  but  it  will  trample  upon  the  weaker  after  all.  A 
political  Union  of  distinct  organized  communities  thus  opposed 
in  moral  sentiment,  can  only  be  upheld  by  force.  In  such  an 
Union,  there  can  be  no  relation  between  the  hater  and  the  de 
tested,  except  the  relation  of  oppressor  and  oppressed.  It  is 
vain  to  say,  '  We  will  give  you  equal  laws.'  It  is  vain  to  say, 
'  Congress  can  pass  no  laws  to  injure  the  Southern  States.' 
It  is  not  by  legislation  that  the  oppression  will  be  effected.  It 
is  by  the  unseen  but  potent  influence  of  the  executive  depart 
ment.  That  influence  guides  the  action  of  the  government  and 
must  lead  to  oppression  of  the  Southern  people  if  it  is  per 
mitted  to  pass  into  the  hands  of  those  who  hate  them  for  the 
love  of  God.  Therefore,  gentlemen,  whilst  I  deplore  seces 
sion  as  much  as  any  man  who  breathes,  whilst  I  deplore  se 
cession  as  fraught  with  the  greatest  evils,  I  have  looked  upon 
it  is  an  inevitable  event  whenever  those  who  detest  the  life  and 
conversation  of  the  Southern  people  acquire  political  control 
over  the  central  government  at  Washington.  Not  as  a  thing 
that  must  happen  on  the  instant,  but  which  must  pretty  soon 
follow.  It  is  the  natural,  the  necessary,  the  inevitable  conse 
quence  ;  and  although  I  may  dislike  particular  individuals  at 
the  South,  and  believe  that  they  are  influenced  by  evil  motives, 
and  take  advantage  of  the  present  state  of  things  for  the  pur 
pose  of  advancing  private  ends  and  aims,  I  cannot  find  fault 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  95 

with  the  South  as  a  unit.  I  look  upon  the  South  as  a  unit, 
and  upon  the  North  as  a  unit.  I  do  not  take  account  of  the 
men  at  the  South  who  are  influenced  by  bad  motives.  I  do  not 
take  account  of  the  men  at  the  North  who  are  influenced  by 
bad  motives.  I  look  upon  the  South  as  an  unit,  that  is  the 
effective  majority  which  represents  the  feelings  and  interests 
of  the  South,  and  I  look  upon  the  North  as  it  is  represented 
by  that  effective  majority  which  speaks  the  voice  of  the  North. 
And,  looking  at  them  in  this  way,  I  see  that  if  the  South  can 
not  otherwise  protect  itself  against  the  aggressive  spirit  of  the 
North,  there  is  an  imperious  necessity  for  this  act  of  secession. 
"Is  the  secession  to  come?  Desponding  men  seem  to  fear 
it.  Some  bad  men  undoubtedly  desire  it.  The  South  is  full, 
I  am  sure,  of  men  who  are  anxious  to  prevent  it.  I  am  sure 
that  there  are  numerous  well-known  secession  leaders  who  lead 
for  the  purpose  of  leading  aright,  intending,  if  they  can,  that 
the  multitude  who  follow  through  the  wilderness  of  doubt  and 
dismay,  may  at  last  be  led  back  into  the  promised  land  of 
Union  and  fraternity.  I  deem  utterly  unworthy  the  observa 
tion  that  the  South  has  offended.  As  a  unit  it  has  not  offended. 
As  a  unit  it  has  only  struggled  to  sustain  itself  against  the 
rapidly  accumulating  majority  of  those  who  held  its  vital  in 
terests  in  such  odium,  that  the  destruction  of  those  interests 
was  a  necessary  consequence  of  their  accession  to  power. 
Therefore,  I  say  that  there  is  no  fault  in  the  South,  as  a  whole, 
and  it  has  nothing  to  atone  for.  Let  us  look,  then,  to  the 
North :  and  I  ask,  what  are  we  to  say  of  ourselves  ?  I  am  my 
self  a  native  of  the  North.  My  ancestors  came  from  a  country 
ten  degrees  nearer  the  pole  than  the  country  in  which  I  live. 
I  am  a  child  of  the  North  in  every  sense.  I  have  scarcely  a 
friend,  I  have  no  correspondents,  and  I  have  no  interests, 
political  or  otherwise,  in  the  South;  and  God  gave  me  a 
physical  constitution  that  would  not  permit  me  to  live  two 
degrees  further  South  than  the  State  in  which  I  am  placed. 
So  I  can  have  no  personal  interests,  can  be  suspected  of  no 
personal  interests,  or  ought  not  at  least  in  common  justice  to 
be  suspected  of  personal  views,  when  I  say  that  the  South, 


96     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

speaking  of  it  as  a  unit,  as  one  portion  of  this  country,  has 
not  offended,  and  has  only  struggled  to  keep  its  head  above 
the  rapidly  advancing  waters  of  this  black  sea  which  has  so 
long  threatened  to  overwhelm  it.  So  much  as  to  the  South. 
Now,  as  to  the  North :  Gentlemen,  do  I  stand  here  to  revile 
it?  Not  at  all.  All  my  pride,  all  my  affections,  all  my  inter 
ests  are  here.  My  birth  was  in  the  North,  and  my  grave  shall 
be  in  the  North.  Let  no  man  suspect  me  of  infidelity  to  the 
North,  or  of  going,  cap  in  hand,  seeking  for  favor  of  any 
description  from  the  South.  I  demand  nothing,  and  we  demand 
nothing  from  it.  But  let  me  say,  as  to  the  North,  that  I  have 
no  fear  of  the  dishonest  Northern  politicians.  There  are  dis 
honest  politicians  everywhere.  I  have  no  fear  of  those  who 
are  denominated  the  leaders  at  the  North.  There  is  no  source 
of  evil  whatever  in  the  North,  except  the  honest,  conscientious 
mistake  of  the  honest,  conscientious  people  of  the  North,  who 
have  drunk  in  this  dreadful  error  that  it  is  their  duty,  before 
God  and  man,  to  crush  out  and  to  trample  upon  the  system 
of  industry  upon  which  the  prosperity  of  the  South  and  the 
permanency  of  this  Union  in  its  present  form  depend.  There 
are  no  enemies  to  this  Union  whose  action  is  to  be  feared,  ex 
cept  the  honest,  virtuous,  conscientious  people  of  the  North. 
Let  us  draw  away  that  support  from  the  designing  political 
factionists,  and  upon  the  instant  this  disturbing,  mischievous 
controversy  ends,  our  Union  renews  its  youth,  and  appears 
before  us  as  an  institution  designed  to  perpetuity  and  to  bless 
untold  millions  for  untold  ages. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  where  is  our  hope?  Why,  it  is  in  having 
a  little  space  of  time  to  look  about  us  here  at  the  North — in 
having  a  little  time  to  correct  our  errors  and  to  withdraw 
political  power  from  those  who  would  use  it  destructively. 
There  is  no  other  means ;  there  is  no  other  remedy.  The 
question  is  this:  Can  we  obtain  a  little  time?  Can  we  induce 
the  South  to  believe  in  our  continued  fidelity,  to  believe  in  the 
practicability  of  accomplishing  our  hopes,  that  harmony  may 
thus  be  restored,  and  such  a  state  of  things  created,  by  means 
of  proper  guarantees,  as  will  render  the  South  safe  within  the 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE    UNION  97 

Union?  That  is  the  question.  Undoubtedly  a  voice  coming 
from  the  city  of  New  York  will  be  recognized  as  the  voice  of 
a  friend,  for  here  there  was  not  only  an  effective  majority, 
but  a  mighty  majority  in  favor  of  doing  entire  justice  to  the 
South,  and  of  keeping  out  of  power  this  dangerous  party, 
whose  first  advent  to  power — the  very  name  of  its  advent  to 
power — has  shaken  our  Republic  to  its  foundations.  Can  we 
obtain  a  little  time?  I  understand  the  proposition  is  that  this 
city  shall  appeal  to  the  South  for  time;  induce  the  South,  if 
possible,  to  stay  its  hand,  and  be  patient  for  a  time.  This, 
certainly,  I  think  we  ought  to  do.  There  are  a  great  many 
safeguards  for  public  liberty  in  our  Constitution.  There  are 
a  great  many  safeguards  for  the  rights  of  oppressed  States 
and  endangered  interests  in  our  Constitution,  and  a  resort  to 
some  one  of  these,  if  our  people  and  our  representatives  in 
Congress  would  earnestly  unite,  might  give  to  our  friends  at 
the  South  assurances  that  political  power  cannot  and  will  not 
be  wielded,  even  by  the  Executive,  or  through  executive  pat 
ronage,  to  their  destruction. 

"  And,  gentlemen,  can  we  afford  them  guarantees  ?  I  think 
we  can.  In  the  first  place,  we  have  nothing  to  fear,  in  my 
judgment,  except  from  honest  men,  as  I  have  said  before,  who 
have  been  misled  and  deceived — who  have  been  misled  and 
deceived,  in  a  very  great  degree,  not  by  politicians,  but  by 
persons  in  other  walks  of  life — by  moral  lecturers  and  by  min 
isters  of  the  Gospel,  who  have  entertained — very  excusably,  I 
am  willing  to  say — mistaken  views  upon  this  subject,  taken 
up,  perhaps,  under  the  influence  of  excitement,  from  very  im 
proper  conduct  occasionally  manifested  on  the  part  of  Southern 
men  in  and  out  of  Congress.  There  are  signs  of  improvement 
in  this  quarter.  In  the  still  recent  canvass  between  Fremont 
and  Buchanan,  when  this  identical  question  was  before  the 
people,  it  was  said  in  the  newspapers,  I  doubt  not  with  sub 
stantial  truth,  that  three  thousand  pulpits  were  pouring  out 
their  thunders  against  slavery,  and  calling  upon  the  people, 
in  the  name  of  the  God  whom  they  worshiped,  to  give  their 
utmost  efforts  to  the  accomplishment  of  the  object  then  in 


98     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

view — the  election  of  an  anti-slavery  Executive.  Gentlemen, 
you  will  not  certainly  have  failed  to  observe  that  during  the 
canvass  which  we  have  just  passed  through,  the  pulpit  was 
almost  silent  upon  the  subject.  The  persons  who  spoke  from 
the  pulpit  were  so  few  in  number  that  they  have  attained  a 
most  unenviable  notoriety,  and  will  probably  be  remembered 
for  a  century  at  least  for  the  distinctive  position  in  which  they 
placed  themselves,  whilst  the  pulpit  generally  was,  as  it  should 
generally  be  upon  such  subjects,  silent.  Now,  that  was  a  great 
improvement.  It  showed  that  a  disposition  to  reconsider  the 
subject  had  entered  the  minds  of  good  men  at  the  North.  It 
showed  that  those  who  were  excited  by  improper  acts,  by  acts 
of  violence,  and  violent  speeches,  to  a  feeling  of  hostility  to 
the  South,  had  begun  to  consider  their  duty — had  begun  the 
study  of  the  volume  from  which  they  were  bound  to  take 
their  doctrines,  and  had  begun  to  learn  that  it  was  by  no  means 
so  clear  that  every  slaveholder  should  be  punished  in  this  world 
and  be  necessarily  consigned  to  perdition  in  the  next.  I  say 
the  pulpit  was  silent.  And  the  pulpit  has  now  improved  upon 
that  silence.  I  trust  a  million  have  already  read,  and  millions 
more  will  read,  throughout  the  North,  the  sermon  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Van  Dyke,  delivered  on  Sunday  last,  where,  most  wisely — 
from  the  attitude  in  which  he  stood,  in  all  respects  most  justly 
and  unexceptionably  ignoring  all  mere  worldly  philosophy, 
ignoring  all  domination  of  men  or  parties,  in  Church,  in  State, 
in  politics  or  elsewhere,  and  placing  himself  upon  that  which 
is  the  single  guide  to  faith  and  doctrine  in  the  judgment  and 
fixed  opinions  of  that  great  sect  which  he  represents — the 
dominant  sect  throughout  all  the  North — placing  himself  upon 
the  Holy  Scriptures  of  Almighty  God,  he  showed  that  the 
people  of  the  South,  if  they  but  perform  their  duties  in  their 
stations  as  well  as  we  at  the  North  in  ours,  lead  lives  as 
virtuous  and  conformable  to  the  precepts  of  Almighty  God, 
and  of  earthly  morality,  as  the  best  men  at  the  North. 

"  First,  then,  gentlemen,  we  have  shown  what  ?  We  have 
shown  that  an  influential  body  which  once  made  itself  active 
to  a  dangerous  end  (I  grant  from  pure  motives),  first  paused, 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  '  99 

and  then  changed  its  tone  on  full  consideration.  And  I  ask 
you,  is  there  not  hope  that  we  shall  live  to  learn  throughout 
these  Northern  States  that  our  duty  is  to  correct  our  own  per 
sonal  vices,  to  reform  our  own  minds  and  our  own  morals — 
to  be  ourselves  good  and  kind  Christians,  loving  and  affec 
tionate  fellow-citizens?  And  if  we  needs  must  take  cogni 
zance  of  the  faults  and  errors  of  other  nations,  and  send  the 
firebrand  of  incendiary  documents  where  we  can  find  no  mis 
sionary  daring  enough  to  go,  let  us  select  the  heathen  in  far- 
distant  lands,  and  not  undertake  to  denounce  as  heathens  and 
sinners  our  own  estimable  fellow-citizens.  This  circumstance 
presents  grounds  for  hope.  It  shows  that  there  is  a  tendency 
in  the  Northern  mind  to  correct  itself,  to  reconsider  its  judg 
ment,  and  to  act  more  kindly  and  more  charitably  towards  the 
people  of  the  South. 

"  Well,  gentlemen,  there  is  a  power  at  Washington  that  can 
save  the  people  of  the  South,  if  it  can  but  firmly  unite  and  re 
solve  to  protect  the  South.  I  mean  the  Senate  of  the  United 
States,  where  the  South  has  a  strong  voice,  and  where  many 
from  the  North  are  ready  to  sustain  and  support  her.  And  as 
to  the  more  distant  future,  as  respects  guaranties  and  final 
protection  to  the  South,  why  let  us,  in  God's  name,  if  no  other 
remedy  can  be  had,  sit  down  in  a  national  convention  and  add 
one  section  to  our  Constitution.  I  would  not  alter  one  word 
of  it.  I  am  against  altering  the  Constitutions,  either  of  the 
Union  or  of  the  States,  that  were  adopted  in  times  that  tried 
men's  souls — in  times  when  the  fathers  of  this  Republic,  under 
the  guidance  of  Almighty  Providence,  were  laying  the  founda 
tions  of  the  first  great  free  State  that  ever  existed.  I  believe 
that  Divine  Wisdom  presided  over  those  events  and  the  judg 
ments  that  were  formed  in  framing  fundamental  laws  at  the 
close  of  the  contest.  I  believe  that  every  step  wherein  we  have 
departed  from  the  fundamental  laws  of  that  day  was  a  mis 
take,  and  that  if  there  be  any  errors  existing  at  this  time  in 
our  practice,  political  or  otherwise,  the  efficient  cure  for  them 
is  to  go  back  to  the  platform  upon  which  the  fathers  stood, — 
to  return  to  the  glorious  rules  and  principles  framed  for  their 


ioo  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

posterity  by  those  who  founded  the  Republic.  Therefore,  gen 
tlemen,  I  would  not  have  a  new  constitution,  and  obliterate 
that  great  instrument,  sanctioned  by  the  name  of  George  Wash 
ington.  I  would  not  say  to  the  present  generation  or  to  pos 
terity  that  we  could  improve  it  by  altering  one  single  word  or 
provision  of  it.  I  would,  however,  be  willing  to  add — for  we 
have  commentators  on  the  most  sacred  things — I  would  be 
willing  to  add  a  provision  for  the  purpose  of  removing  dis 
putes,  by  way  of  carrying  out  and  more  completely  and  exactly 
executing  the  things  that  are  in  it.  We  are  told  by  the  highest 
authority — by  that  which  we,  I  trust,  all  revere — the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States — that  the  Declaration  of  Independ 
ence  and  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  were  made  by 
and  for  the  free  white  Caucasian  race  inhabiting  these  United 
States.  And  I  would  add  a  provision  to  the  Constitution  em 
bracing — for  the  purpose  of  convincing  those  who  otherwise 
will  not  see — that  principle;  and  that  would  guarantee  com 
plete  protection  to  the  people  of  the  South.  I  will  not  say 
precisely  in  what  form  it  should  be  added.  I  will  not  say  it, 
not  because  I  have  not  duly  and  fully  reflected  on  it,  and  am 
not  prepared  to  say  it,  but  because  it  may  as  well  be  left  for 
greater  men  than  I  to  have  the  honor  of  putting  it  in  form, 
and  suggesting  the  way  in  which  it  should  be  adopted.  Now, 
gentlemen,  there  is  no  inhumanity,  there  is  no  selfishness,  there 
is  nothing  that  men  can  find  fault  with  in  laying  down  the 
rule  that  America  was  made  for  a  free  white  Caucasian  race 
and  its  development.  We  but  follow  the  judgment  of  Almighty 
God  when  we  say,  '  America  for  the  white  Caucasian,  Africa  for 
the  negro  who  was  born  in  it,  who  is  adapted  to  its  climate, 
and  there,  in  a  physical  sense,  at  least,  can  best  flourish.'  Why, 
if  we  establish  the  principle  that  this  is  a  free  white  republic, 
and  not  a  home  for  the  free  black  man,  and  if  the  black  man 
has  in  his  nature  and  constitution  a  capacity  of  being  elevated  to 
power,  and  of  being  civilized  and  Christianized,  what  a  mighty 
empire  of  free,  enlightened,  independent,  powerful  men  you 
will  have  in  Africa  within  a  century  or  two !  If  they  are  fit 
for  freedom,  if  they  can  enjoy  and  sustain  self-government, 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  101 

that  is  the  way  in  which  benevolence,  which  turns  away  from 
the  white  man  and  aims  at  elevating  the  black  man,  can  have 
its  full  gratification.  If  the  black  men  of  the  South  are  one 
day  to  attain  their  liberty,  it  will  be  when  hundreds  of  millions 
of  enlightened,  Christian,  civilized  black  men,  in  the  full  en 
joyment  of  liberty,  shall  people  the  plains  and  hills  of  Africa — 
when  that  continent  shall  have  its  civilization,  its  commerce, 
its  armies  and  its  navies — then,  indeed,  the  Southern  States 
of  this  Union  would  be  obliged  to  sustain  an  unequal  conflict, 
or  deliver  up  to  the  freedom  of  his  native  region  every  black 
slave  within  their  borders.  And  thus,  if  indeed,  as  these  fanat 
ics  seem  to  think,  it  be  within  the  scheme  of  Almighty  Provi 
dence,  to  elevate  the  black  race,  that  race  will  be  elevated  by 
its  own  instrumentality,  and  in  a  climate  most  congenial  to 
its  constitution,  mental  and  physical. 

"  Gentlemen,  I  have  already  kept  you  too  long.  This,  to 
be  sure,  is  a  great  subject,  and  I  always  feel,  when  I  speak 
upon  it,  that  I  must  either  say  altogether  too  little,  or  weary 
the  patience  of  those  who  may  be  obliged  through  courtesy  to 
listen.  I  have  done.  We  have  met  to  re-assure  our  Southern 
friends.  We  have  met  to  present  to  them,  in  the  strongest 
form  in  our  power,  the  assurance  of  our  continued  action  in 
their  favor,  and  to  concert  such  measures  as  may  lead  to  stay 
ing  the  progress  of  their  justifiable  discontent.  I  insist  upon 
calling  it  so.  To  stay  the  affirmative,  final  action  of  that  justi 
fiable  discontent  until  we  shall  have  had  an  opportunity  to 
change  the  existing  state  of  things,  and  relieve  the  South  from 
the  present  position  of  affairs.  The  party  which  believes  it  a 
duty  to  suppress  and  crush  out  slavery,  may  be  held  out  from 
the  possession  of  political  power  over  the  central  government. 
We  may  not  be  able  to  control  that  party  in  particular  States, 
but  within  a  very  short  period  I  sincerely  believe  we  shall  be 
able  to  hurl  that  party  from  power  at  Washington,  and  by 
united  action  we  may  prevent  it  from  working  mischief  in  the 
interval." 

Letters  were  read  from  a  number  of  prominent  sympathizers 


102  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

with  the  object  of  the  meeting  who  were  unable  to  be  present, 
and  addresses  were  made  by  Hon.  John  A.  Dix,  Hon.  John 
McKeon,  Hon.  Daniel  S.  Dickinson,  and  Hiram  Ketchum.  A 
committee  of  twenty-four,  consisting  of  John  A.  Dix,  George 
E.  Baldwin,  Gerard  Hallock,  Edwin  Crosswell,  Stephen  P. 
Russell,  James  W.  Beekman,  Watts  Sherman,  John  H.  Brower, 
Elias  S.  Higgins,  Algernon  S.  Jarvis,  Royal  Phelps,  Thomas  W. 
Ludlow,  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  Gustavus  W.  Smith,  John  M.  Bar- 
bour,  Thomas  W.  Clerke,  James  T.  Soutter,  Samuel  J.  Tilden, 
Benjamin  Nott,  John  L.  O'Sullivan,  John  McKeon,  Wm.  H. 
Aspinwall,  Charles  A.  Davis,  and  Stewart  Brown,  was  ap 
pointed  by  the  Chair  to  draft  resolutions  and  a  proper  address 
to  the  South  in  sympathy  with  their  rights  in  the  Union  but 
opposed  to  secession  in  any  form.  At  the  close  of  Mr.  Ket- 
chum's  address  this  committee  reported  through  its  chair 
man,  General  Dix,  the  following  Address  and  Resolutions, 
which,  after  consideration,  were  adopted  unanimously : 

"  ADDRESS. 

"  FELLOW  CITIZENS  AND  BRETHREN  OF  THE  SOUTH, 

"  It  has  become  our  painful  duty  to  address  ourselves  to  you 
under  the  most  alarming  circumstances  in  which  we  have  been 
placed  since  the  formation  of  the  government.  In  the  fullness 
of  our  prosperity,  our  strength,  and  our  credit,  the  Union,  to 
which  we  owe  it  all,  is  in  imminent  danger  of  becoming  a 
prey  to  internal  dissension,  sacrificing  the  great  interests  of 
the  country,  and  forfeiting  the  high  position  it  holds  among  the 
nations  of  the  earth.  To  avert  a  calamity  so  disgraceful  to 
us  as  a  free  people,  so  disastrous  to  the  common  welfare,  and 
so  disheartening  to  the  friends  of  representative  government 
in  both  hemispheres,  we  appeal  to  you  by  the  sacred  memory 
of  that  fraternal  friendship  which  bound  our  forefathers  to 
gether  through  the  perils  of  the  Revolution,  which  has  united 
us  all  through  succeeding  years  of  alternate  good  and  ill,  and 
which  has  conducted  us,  under  the  protection  of  the  Sovereign 
Ruler  of  the  Universe,  to  wealth  and  power  by  a  progress 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  103 

unexampled  in  the  history  of  the  past — by  all  the  endearing 
recollections  with  which  this  association  is  hallowed,  we  con 
jure  you  to  pause  before  the  current  of  disunion  shall  acquire 
a  force  which  may  prove  irresistible,  that  we  may  consult  to 
gether,  with  the  calmness  due  to  the  magnitude  of  the  crisis, 
for  the  removal  of  the  causes  which  have  produced  it.  We 
make  this  appeal  to  you  in  entire  confidence  that  it  will  not  be 
repulsed.  We  have  stood  by  you  in  the  political  contest  through 
which  we  have  just  passed.  We  have  asserted  your  rights  as 
earnestly  as  though  they  had  been  our  own.  You  cannot  re 
fuse,  therefore,  to  listen  to  us,  and  to  weigh  with  becoming 
deliberation  the  reasons  we  have  for  believing  that  the  wrongs, 
which  have  led  to  the  existing  alienation  betweeen  the  two 
great  sections  of  the  country,  may,  with  your  co-operation,  be 
speedily  redressed.  We  do  not  intend  to  go  back  to  the  origin 
of  these  wrongs.  We  will  not  review  the  dark  history  of  the 
aggression  and  insult  heaped  upon  you  by  abolitionists  and 
their  abettors  during  the  last  thirty-five  years.  Our  detesta 
tion  of  these  acts  of  hostility  is  not  inferior  to  your  own.  We 
take  things  as  they  exist,  to  deal  with  them  as  an  evil,  not 
to  be  eradicated  by  violence,  but  to  be  remedied  by  a  treatment 
which  shall  at  the  same  time  be  considerate  and  firm.  We  call 
on  you  as  friends  to  delay  action  until  we  can  induce  those, 
through  whose  agency  the  evil  has  been  brought  upon  us, 
to  listen  to  the  voices  of  reason  and  duty,  and  to  place  your 
relations  and  ours  to  the  common  privileges  and  benefits  of 
the  Union  on  a  footing  of  perfect  equality ;  or,  failing  in 
this,  until  we  can  bring  the  majority  of  our  fellow-citizens  in 
the  North  to  co-operate  with  us,  as  we  do  not  doubt  they  will, 
in  the  proper  measures  of  redress.  We  do  not  despair  of  secur 
ing  from  those,  to  whose  hands  the  reins  of  government  are 
about  to  be  entrusted,  a  recognition  of  your  rights  in  regard 
to  the  surrender  of  fugitive  slaves  and  equality  in  the  Terri 
tories.  We  know  that  great  changes  of  opinion  have  already 
taken  place  among  their  most  intelligent  and  influential  men — 
that  a  reaction  has  commenced,  which  is  not  likely  to  be  stayed 
— that  errors  and  prejudices  which  in  the  heat  of  the  canvass 


104  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

were  inaccessible  to  reason  and  persuasion,  have  been,  on  cool 
reflection,  renounced;  nay,  more,  that  many,  whose  opinions 
have  undergone  no  change,  are  willing,  in  a  praiseworthy  spirit 
of  patriotism,  to  make  on  questions,  which  are  not  fundamental 
in  our  system  of  government,  but  merely  accessory  to  our  social 
condition,  the  concessions  necessary  to  preserve  the  Union  in 
its  integrity,  and  to  save  us  from  the  fatal  alternative  of  dis 
memberment  into  two  or  more  empires,  jealous  of  each  other, 
and  embittered  by  the  remembrance  of  differences,  which  we 
had  not  the  justice  or  the  magnanimity  to  compose. 

"  Let  us  enumerate  briefly  the  grounds  on  which  we  repose 
our  trust  in  a  speedy  accommodation  of  the  existing  disagree 
ment  between  the  North  and  the  South. 

"  I.  The  late  election.  Although  it  was  adverse  to  us 
throughout  the  North,  we  have  in  the  detail  added  materially 
to  our  strength  in  Congress,  where  the  power  to  redress  wrong 
and  prevent  abuse  is  most  needed.  In  this  State,  against  five 
Democratic  and  Union  members  of  the  present  Congress,  eleven 
members  have  been  elected  for  the  next ;  and  in  the  other  North 
ern  States  five  members  more  have  been  gained,  making  a 
change  of  twenty-two  votes  in  the  House  of  Representatives, 
giving  a  decided  majority  in  that  body  to  the  friends  of  the 
Union  and  the  equal  rights  of  the  South,  rendering  all  hostile 
legislation  impossible,  and  affording  assurance  that  existing 
wrong  will  be  redressed. 

"  In  regard  to  the  general  result  of  the  election,  we  do  not 
hesitate  to  say,  that  the  conservative  men  of  the  North  have 
been  defeated  by  their  own  divisions,  rather  than  by  the  votes 
of  their  opponents,  and  that  it  is  not  a  true  criterion  of  the 
relative  strength  of  parties.  The  slavery  question  was  but  an 
element  in  the  contest;  it  would  have  proved  utterly  inade 
quate  to  the  result  had  not  the  Democratic  party  been  dis 
organized  by  its  own  dissensions.  Even  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  with  an  overwhelming  majority,  one  of  the  most  con 
servative  Congress  districts  was  lost  by  running  two  candidates 
against  a  single  Republican. 

"  In  the  Congress  districts  carried  by  the  anti-Republicans, 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  105 

the  canvass  was  placed  distinctly  on  the  ground  of  sustaining 
the  equal  rights  of  the  States  in  the  Territories.  In  the  month 
of  May  last  an  address  was  published  in  the  City  of  New  York, 
reviewing  the  controversy  between  the  two  great  sections  of 
the  country  in  regard  to  the  territorial  question,  and  assuming 
as  a  basis  of  settlement  the  following  grounds : 

"  '  i.  A  citizen  of  any  State  in  the  Union  may  emigrate  to 
the  Territories  with  his  property,  whether  it  consists  of  slaves 
or  any  other  subject  of  personal  ownership. 

"  '  2.  So  long  as  the  territorial  condition  exists,  the  relation 
of  master  and  slave  is  not  to  be  disturbed  by  federal  or  local 
legislation. 

"  '  3.  Whenever  a  Territory  shall  be  entitled  to  admission 
into  the  Union  as  a  State,  the  inhabitants  may,  in  framing  their 
constitution,  decide  for  themselves  whether  it  shall  authorize 
or  exclude  slavery.' 

"  We  stand  on  these  grounds  now.  We  believe  the  contro 
versy  can  be  adjusted  on  no  other.  Many  who  sustained  in 
the  late  canvass  a  candidate,  who  did  not  assent  to  them,  dis 
agreed  with  him  in  opinion.  We  speak  particularly  of  the  City 
of  New  York;  and  we  say  with  confidence  that  we  believe  the 
great  conservative  party  of  the  North  may  be  rallied  success 
fully  on  the  foregoing  propositions  as  a  basis  of  adjustment. 
In  carrying  them  out  we  shall  re-establish  the  practice  of  the 
government  from  its  organization  to  the  year  1820,  running 
through  the  successive  administrations  of  Washington,  the  elder 
Adams,  Jefferson,  and  Madison.  The  territory  northwest  of 
the  Ohio  River,  in  which  slavery  was  prohibited  by  an  ordi 
nance  adopted  under  the  Articles  of  Confederation,  was  an  ex 
ceptional  case.  In  the  other  Territories  emigrants  from  the 
States  were  freely  admitted  with  slaves  when  composing  a 
part  of  their  families.  The  adoption  of  the  Missouri  Compro 
mise  under  the  administration  of  Mr.  Monroe,  was  the  first 
departure  from  the  practice  of  the  government  under  the 
Constitution.  We  must  go  back  to  the  policy  of  the  founders 
of  the  Republic  if  we  hope  to  preserve  the  Union.  We  believe 
this  great  object  can  be  accomplished,  and  that  harmony  may 


io6  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

be  restored  to  the  country,  if  time  for  action  be  given  to  those 
who  have  its  destinies  in  their  hands. 

"  II.  The  Republican  party.  It  cannot  possibly  remain  un 
broken  during  the  term  of  the  incoming  administration.  The 
two  chief  elements — the  political  and  religious — can  never 
harmonize  in  practice.  The  process  of  separation  has  already 
commenced.  While  those  who  ostensibly  represent  the  re 
ligious  element  are  as  fierce  as  ever  in  their  denunciations, 
leading  politicians,  no  doubt  in  view  of  the  responsibility  to 
devolve  on  the  President-elect  in  carrying  on  the  government, 
have  renounced  ultra  opinions,  and  proclaimed  the  duty  of 
enforcing  an  efficient  fugitive  slave  law.  In  Boston  the  Union 
party  triumphed  by  a  majority  of  several  thousand  votes  in  the 
late  municipal  election,  and  the  Abolitionists  have  been  ex 
pelled  by  the  people  from  the  public  halls,  in  which  they  at 
tempted  to  hold  their  disorganizing  assemblies.  In  other  cities 
of  New  England  the  same  reaction  has  taken  place.  The 
theorists  and  the  politicians  can  never  hold  together  when 
measures  of  government  are  to  be  agreed  on ;  and  it  is  not 
believed  that  the  Republican  party  can  sustain  itself  for  a 
single  year  on  the  basis  of  the  principles  on  which  it  was 
organized. 

"  It  is  a  mistake  to  imagine  that  the  whole  Republican  party, 
or  even  the  great  bulk  of  it,  is  really  at  heart,  animated  by  any 
spirit  hostile  to  the  rights  or  menacing  to  the  interests  of  the 
South.  Anti-slaveryism  has  constituted  but  one  of  various 
political  elements  combined  in  that  '  Republicanism '  which 
has  elected  Mr.  Lincoln.  We  pledge  ourselves  to  you,  that 
whenever  a  fair  opportunity  shall  be  presented  of  a  distinct 
and  simple  vote  of  the  North  upon  the  full  recognition  of  all 
your  constitutional  rights,  a  very  large  majority  in  nearly 
every  Northern  State  will  be  found  true  to  the  Constitution, 
and  true  to  the  fraternal  relations  established  by  it  between 
you  and  us. 

"  III.  The  fugitive  slave  law.  Eight  or  nine  States  have 
passed  laws  calculated,  if  not  designed,  to  embarrass  the  sur 
render  of  fugitive  slaves.  Wrong  as  these  enactments  are  in 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE    UNION  107 

principle  and  in  purpose,  they  have  been  practically  nugatory. 
We  believe  no  fugitive  from  service  or  labor  has  been  dis 
charged  under  any  one  of  them.  They  are,  nevertheless,  utterly 
indefensible  as  the  index  of  unfriendly  feeling;  they  have 
wrought,  in  practice,  the  further  injury  of  furnishing  an  ex 
ample  of  infidelity  to  Constitutional  obligations — an  injury  to 
us  as  well  as  to  you ;  and  no  one  doubts  that  they  will,  when 
brought  before  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  country,  be  pro 
nounced  violations  or  evasions  of  a  duty  enjoined  by  the  Con 
stitution,  and  therefore  void. 

"  A  movement  has  already  been  made  in  Vermont  (the  most 
hopeless  of  the  Republican  States)  to  repeal  her  personal 
liberty  bill,  and  the  question,  as  we  understand  it,  is  yet  un 
decided  in  the  hands  of  a  committee.  Massachusetts,  it  is 
believed,  will  repeal  hers  at  the  approaching  session  of  her 
legislature.  Nor  is  it  doubted  that  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  has  pub 
licly  declared  that  the  fugitive  slave  law  must  be  faithfully 
executed,  will  exert  his  influence  to  procure  the  abrogation  of 
all  conflicting  enactments  by  the  States.  That  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  States  to  repeal  them,  without  waiting  for  the  Courts 
to  pronounce  them  invalid,  no  man,  who  justly  appreciates  the 
existing  danger,  will  deny. 

"  IV.  The  conservative  men  of  the  North.  Since  the  adop 
tion  of  the  compromise  measures  of  1850,  we  have  firmly  main 
tained  your  rights  under  them.  Previous  differences  of  opinion 
were  cheerfully  renounced.  The  contest  with  the  ultraism  of 
the  Republican  party,  active  and  strong  as  it  is,  has  not  been 
unaccompanied  by  personal  sacrifices  on  our  part.  They  have 
been  encountered  unhesitatingly,  and  without  regard  to  politi 
cal  consequences  to  ourselves.  We  felt  that  we  had  a  stake  in 
the  issue  not  less  important  than  you.  Believing  the  Union 
essential  to  the  prosperity  and  honor  of  the  country ;  holding 
that  its  dissolution  would  not  only  overwhelm  us  with  calamity 
and  disgrace,  but  that  it  would  give  a  fatal  shock  to  the  cause 
of  free  government  throughout  the  world,  we  have  sought  by 
all  practicable  means  to  maintain  it  by  carrying  out  with  scru 
pulous  fidelity  the  compromises  of  the  Constitution.  Though 


io8  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

beaten  at  the  late  election,  it  is  our  sincere  belief  that  we  are 
stronger  on  this  question  now  than  we  have  been  at  any  pre 
vious  time.  We  believe  we  are  nearer  a  solution  satisfactory 
to  you  than  we  ever  have  been.  We  regard  it  as  certain  to  be 
accomplished,  unless  it  is  defeated  by  precipitate  action  on 
your  part. 

"  These  are  a  few  of  the  grounds  on  which  we  rely  for  an 
adjustment  of  existing  differences.  There  are  others  which 
we  deem  it  needless  at  this  juncture  to  press  on  you.  But 
we  should  leave  the  view  we  take  of  the  question  unfinished, 
if  we  were  not  to  add,  that  any  violation  of  your  constitutional 
rights  by  the  incoming  administration,  if  it  were  attempted, 
would  meet  with  as  prompt  and  as  determined  a  resistance  here 
as  it  would  from  yourselves.  We  desire  it  to  be  distinctly 
understood  that  we  speak  with  full  knowledge  of  the  import 
of  our  words ;  and  that  we  pledge  ourselves  to  such  a  resistance 
by  all  the  means  which  may  be  necessary  to  make  it  effective. 
But  we  are  satisfied  no  such  danger  is  to  be  feared.  It  cannot, 
in  the  nature  of  things,  be  an  ultra  administration.  No  party 
in  power,  under  our  system  of  government,  can  fail  to  be  con 
servative,  no  matter  on  what  declarations  the  canvass  may  have 
been  conducted  by  its  leading  supporters.  There  is  an  under 
current  of  moderation  in  the  flow  of  popular  opinion,  which 
will  inevitably  withhold  those,  to  whom  the  great  interests  of 
the  country  are  only  temporarily  confided,  from  running  rashly 
into  extremes. 

"  Let  us  then,  fellow-citizens  and  brethren,  again  appeal  to 
you  to  abstain  from  any  movement  which  shall  have  for  its 
object  a  dissolution  of  the  political  bonds,  which  have  so  long, 
and  so  happily  for  us  all,  united  us  to  each  other.  They  have 
given  us  honor,  wealth,  and  power.  If  occasional  differences 
have  disturbed  the  general  harmony,  they  have  been  speedily 
adjusted  with  fresh  accessions  of  benefit  to  the  common  wel 
fare.  No  nation  has  had  so  uninterrupted  a  career  of  pros 
perity.  To  what  are  we  to  attribute  it  but  to  the  well-adjusted 
organization  of  our  political  system  to  its  several  parts?  We 
do  not  call  on  you  to  aid  us  in  upholding  it  on  these  considera- 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  109 

tions  alone.  There  are  others  of  a  more  personal  nature — 
not  addressing  themselves  to  you  as  communities  of  men  merely, 
but  as  individuals  like  ourselves,  bound  to  us  by  ties  of  recip 
rocal  obligation,  which  we  call  on  you  in  all  candor  to  respect. 
We  should  not  make  this  appeal  to  you  on  an  occasion  of  less 
magnitude.  But  wrhen  the  very  foundations  of  society  are 
in  danger  of  being  broken  up,  involving  the  peace  of  families, 
the  interests  of  communities,  and  the  lasting  welfare  and  repu 
tation  of  the  whole  confederacy  of  States,  no  feeling  of  deli 
cacy  should  dissuade  us  from  speaking  freely  and  without 
concealment.  We  call  on  you,  then,  as  brethren  and  friends, 
to  stand  by  us  as  we  have  stood  by  you. 

"  During  the  angry  contentions  of  the  last  nine  years,  we 
have  been  the  open  and  unshrinking  vindicators  of  your  rights. 
It  is  in  fighting  with  you  the  battle  for  the  Constitution  that 
we  have  by  an  unfortunate  combination  of  causes  been  over 
thrown — not  finally  and  hopelessly  (far  from  it) — but  tempo 
rarily  only,  and  with  a  remaining  strength,  which  needs  only 
to  be  concentrated  to  give  us  the  victory  in  future  conflicts. 
Is  it  magnanimous — nay,  is  it  just — to  abandon  us  when  we 
are  as  eager  as  ever  to  renew  the  contest,  on  grounds  essen 
tially  your  own,  and  leave  us  to  carry  it  on  in  utter  hopelessness 
for  want  of  your  co-operation  and  aid?  We  cannot  doubt 
the  response  you  will  give  to  this  appeal.  You  cannot  fail  to 
see  that  by  hastily  separating  yourselves  from  us,  you  will 
deprive  us  of  the  co-operation  needed  to  contend  successfully 
against  the  ultraism  which  surrounds  us,  and  may  leave  us 
without  power  in  a  political  organization  imbued,  by  the  very 
act  of  separation,  with  a  rancorous  spirit  of  hostility  to  you. 
We  conjure  you  then  to  unite  with  us  to  prevent  the  question 
of  disunion  from  being  precipitated  by  rash  counsels  and  in  a 
manner  altogether  unworthy  of  our  rank  among  the  great  na 
tions  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  destinies  which  await  us  if  we 
are  only  true  to  ourselves. 

"  If  the  event  shall  prove  that  we  have  overstated  our  own 
ability  to  procure  a  redress  of  existing  wrongs,  or  the  dis 
position  of  others  to  concede  what  is  due  to  you,  as  members 


no  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

of  a  confederacy,  which  can  only  be  preserved  by  equal  justice 
to  all ;  let  us,  when  all  the  efforts  of  patriotism  shall  have 
proved  unavailing,  when  the  painful  truth  shall  have  forced 
itself  on  the  conviction  that  our  common  brotherhood  can  be 
no  longer  maintained  in  the  mutual  confidence,  in  which  its 
whole  value  consists — in  a  word,  when  reconciliation  shall  be 
come  hopeless,  and  it  shall  be  manifest  (which,  may  God  for 
bid  ! )  that  our  future  paths  must  lie  wide  apart ;  let  us  do  all 
that  becomes  reasonable  men,  to  break  the  force  of  so  great  a 
calamity,  by  parting  in  peace.  Let  us  remember  that  we  have 
public  obligations  at  home  and  abroad,  which  for  our  good 
name  must  not  be  dishonored — that  we  have  great  interests 
within  and  without — on  the  ocean,  in  our  cities  and  towns,  in 
our  widely  extended  internal  improvements,  in  our  fields  and  at 
our  firesides — which  must  not  be  inconsiderately  and  wantonly 
sacrificed.  If  undervaluing  the  great  boon  of  our  prosperity, 
we  can  no  longer  consent  to  enjoy  it  in  common,  let  us  divide 
what  we  possess  on  the  one  hand,  and  what  we  owe  on  the  other, 
and  save  the  Republic — the  noblest  the  world  has  seen — from 
the  horrors  of  civil  war  and  the  degradation  of  financial  dis 
credit. 

"  If,  on  the  other  hand  (which  may  God  grant!),  you  shall 
not  turn  a  deaf  ear  to  this  appeal — if  it  shall  be  seen  in  the 
sequel  that  we  have  correctly  appreciated  the  influences  which 
are  at  work  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  of  existing  differ 
ences,  and  a  redress  of  existing  wrongs  ;  if  mutual  confidence 
shall  be  restored,  and  the  current  of  our  prosperity  shall  re 
sume  its  course,  to  flow  on,  as  it  must,  with  no  future  dis 
sensions  to  disturb  it,  and  in  perpetually  increasing  volume  and 
force ;  it  will  be  the  most  cheering  consolation  of  our  lives 
that  in  contributing  to  so  happy  an  issue  out  of  the  prevailing 
gloom,  we  have  neither  misjudged  your  patriotism,  nor  the 
willingness  of  our  common  countrymen  to  do  you  justice." 


EFFORTS  TO  SAVE  THE  UNION     in 

"THE  RESOLUTIONS. 

"  WHEREAS,  The  Constitution  of  the  United  States  was 
designed  to  secure  equal  rights  and  privileges  to  the  people  of 
all  the  States,  which  were  either  parties  to  its  formation  or 
which  have  subsequently  thereto  become  members  of  the  Union  ; 
and  whereas,  the  said  instrument  contained  certain  stipulations 
in  regard  to  the  surrender  of  fugitive  slaves,  under  the  desig 
nation  of  '  persons  held  to  service  or  labor  in  one  State,  under 
the  laws  thereof,  escaping  into  another,'  which  stipulations 
were  designed  to  be  complied  with  by  the  act  of  Congress 
making  provision  for  such  surrender ;  and  whereas,  the  agitated 
state  of  the  country,  arising  out  of  the  differences  of  opinion 
in  regard  to  these  provisions,  demands  that  we  should  declare 
explicitly  our  sense  of  the  obligations  arising  under  them ; 
therefore, 

"  Resolved,  That  the  delivery  of  fugitive  slaves  to  their 
masters  is  an  obligation  enjoined  by  the  Constitution,  in  which 
all  good  citizens  are  bound  to  acquiesce ;  and  that  all  laws 
passed  by  the  States  with  a  view  to  embarrass  and  obstruct 
the  execution  of  the  act  of  Congress  making  provision  therefor, 
are  an  infraction  of  that  instrument  and  should  be  promptly 
repealed. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  Territories  of  the  United  States  are  the 
common  property  of  the  people  thereof ;  that  they  are  of  right, 
and  ought  to  be,  open  to  the  free  immigration  of  citizens  of 
all  the  States,  with  their  families,  and  with  whatever  is  the 
subject  of  personal  ownership  under  the  laws  of  the  States 
from  which  they  emigrated ;  that  the  relation  of  master  and 
slave  cannot,  during  the  territorial  condition,  be  rightfully  dis 
turbed  by  federal  or  local  legislation ;  and  that  the  people  of 
any  such  Territory  can  only  dispose  of  the  question  of  slavery 
in  connection  with  their  own  political  organization,  when  they 
form  a  constitution  with  a  view  to  their  admission  into  the 
Union  as  a  State. 

"  Resolved,  That  we  pledge  ourselves  to  uphold  these 
principles  by  all  the  means  in  our  power:  to  seek  by  all  prac- 


H2  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

ticable  efforts  a  redress  of  the  wrongs  of  which  the  Southern 
States  justly  complain,  and  to  maintain  their  equality  under 
the  Constitution,  in  the  full  enjoyment  of  all  the  rights  and 
privileges  it  confers. 

"  Resolved,  That  while  we  deplore  the  existing  excitement  in 
the  Southern  States,  we  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  is 
just  ground  for  it.  But  we  earnestly  entreat  our  Southern 
brethren  to  abstain  from  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action,  that 
time  may  be  afforded  for  bringing  about  a  reconciliation  of 
existing  differences,  and  that  the  Union  of  the  States — the 
source  of  our  prosperity  and  power — may  be  preserved  and 
perpetuated  by  a  restoration  of  public  harmony  and  mutual 
confidence. 

"  Resolved,  That  HON.  MILLARD  FILLMORE,  HON.  BRONSON 
C.  GREENE  and  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  be  appointed  a  com 
mittee  to  proceed  to  the  South,  with  a  view  to  make  such 
explanation  to  our  Southern  brethren,  in  regard  to  the  subjects 
embraced  in  the  Address  and  Resolutions,  as  they  may  deem 
necessary,  and  to  give  such  further  assurances  as  may  be 
needed  to  manifest  our  determination  to  maintain  their  rights. 

''Resolved,  That,  in  case  either  of  the  gentlemen  named  in 
the  foregoing  resolution  be  unable  to  perform  the  service  for 
which  he  is  appointed,  the  Committee  on  the  Address  and 
Resolutions  be  authorized  to  fill  the  vacancy." 

During  the  weeks  immediately  succeeding  the  Pine  Street 
meeting  I  received  many  letters  of  the  most  discouraging 
character  from  prominent  citizens  of  the  South.  The  four 
letters  I  append  herewith  are  fair  samples  of  them  all : 

"  CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  Jan.  ist,  1861. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ., 

"  Winyah  Park,  New  Rochelle. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  have  to  thank  you  for  the  Journal  of 
Commerce  containing  the  proceedings  of  the  New  York  meet 
ing  of  conservative  men.  I  was  greatly  pleased  with  your 
speech,  and  the  others  made,  and  especially  with  the  Address. 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE   THE   UNION  113 

I  only  wish  that  you  and  your  friends  had  moved  sooner.  Some 
good  might  possibly  have  been  done;  but  our  State  had 
become  too  far  committed  to  halt  in  her  actions,  pressed 
as  she  was  from  every  quarter  to  go  on.  Even  such 
men  as  Mr.  Daniel  Rudisch,  always  wedded  to  the  Union, 
considered  the  State  so  committed  that  she  could  not  re 
tract  with  honor.  Besides,  there  was  no  evidence  of  any 
yielding  on  the  part  of  the  Republican  party,  and  what 
was  the  South  to  do?  Could  she  submit  to  the  inaugu 
ration  of  a  Party  in  Washington  pledged  to  the  ultimate 
overthrow  of  her  institutions?  And  now  coercion  is  threat 
ened,  because  we  avail  of  the  only  measure  left  for  escape, 
and  what  makes  matters  worse  all  parties  in  the  Northern 
states  seem  to  fall  into  the  ranks  of  those  who  demand  it. 
Have  we  no  friends  among  her  people  ?  None  to  stay  the  hand 
of  war?  None  who  prefer  a  peaceful  separation,  rather  than 
one  of  blood?  If  they  succeed  in  destroying  us,  will  they 
not  destroy  State  sovereignty,  the  very  essence  of  American 
liberty,  and  establish  in  its  stead,  a  central,  consolidated  des 
potism,  which  no  State  or  section  can  hereafter  resist?  And 
yet  wrar  seems  inevitable,  for  nowhere  does  there  rise  up  any 
apparently  able  person  to  prevent  it,  and  all  before  us  is  full 
of  sadness  and  trouble. 

'  This  is  the  first  day  of  the  new  year,  and  it  is  melancholy 
that  the  usual  congratulations  of  the  season  cannot  be  extended 
to  you ;  for  who  can  wish  many  returns  of  such  a  period  of 
political  strife,  of  brothers  standing  face  to  face  and  on  the 
eve  of  shedding  each  other's  blood  ? 

"  Recent  occurences  in  this  harbor,  and  in  Washington,  have 
greatly  added  to  the  excitement  here  and  throughout  the  South, 
complicating  matters  still  further  and  rendering  a  collision  with 
the  government  most  difficult  to  be  avoided.  The  only  chance 
for  the  Union  now  is  to  let  the  Cotton  States  go  peaceably,  and 
to  commence  an  early  negotiation  for  a  new  Union.  It  might 
succeed ;  for  Virginia,  Maryland  and  North  Carolina  would 
aid  this  measure,  while  portions  of  Georgia,  Alabama  and 
Mississippi  would  be  favorable  to  it.  On  the  other  hand,  co- 


ii4  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

ercion  will  drive  them  off  forever,  and  along  with  them  Ken 
tucky  and  Tennessee.  I  fear,  however,  that  all  is  too  late  and 
that  nothing  now  but  a  miracle  can  arrest  the  onward  course 
towards  destruction  and  war.  I  notice  this  morning  that  the 
Bank  of  Commerce  has  taken  the  balance  of  the  Government 
loan  of  two  millions.  The  rate  is  a  high  one,  twelve  per  cent., 
but  still  it  disappoints  me  to  find  New  York  capitalists  aiding 
the  government  at  this  time  under  even  the  most  tempting 
offers  of  profits.  How  will  the  New  York  Governor  and  the 
legislature  receive  the  proposition  that  the  State  of  New  York 

should  raise  troops  to  sustain  the  government? 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  H.  GOURDIN." 

"TALLAHASSEE,  FLA.,  Jan.  5th,  1861. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS, 

"  Winyah   Park,  New  Rochelle. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  was  unable  to  write  you  on  my  way  home, 
having  hurried  through  as  fast  as  railroads  could  bring  me. 
I  reached  here  on  the  3rd  inst.  having  intercepted  a  large  num 
ber  of  delegates  to  our  Convention,  some  thirteen  miles  above 
here.  The  Convention  convened  that  day,  organized  tempo 
rarily,  and  in  consideration  of  yesterday's  being  the  National 
Fast,  adjourned  over  till  to-day.  So  you  see  we  consider 
ourselves  yet  one  of  the  United  States  and  have  respect  to  the 
authority  of  the  present  administration.  The  complexion  of 
our  convention  is  decidedly  colored.  A  small  majority  favor 
immediate  secession  and  it  is  now  more  than  likely  that  on  Mon 
day  the  7th  inst.,  Florida  will  become  a  separate  Republic. 
The  returns  from  Georgia  thus  far  indicate  that  the  State 
has  gone  secession  largely.  If  this  is  confirmed,  there  will  be 
no  longer  a  shadow  of  doubt  as  to  the  action  of  the  Cotton 
States. 

"  Throughout  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  the  secession 
spirit  is  gathering  strength  daily.  This  I  get  from  leading- 
gentlemen  of  both  States.  The  truth  is,  the  spirit  of  determined 
resistance  to  Black  Republican  rule  is  widespread  and  nothing 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  115 

can  stay  the  march  of  the  present  revolution  but  a  complete 
breaking  down  of  the  Republicans  on  the  Territorial  question, 
and  this  I  conceive  to  be  beyond  hope.  My  impression,  then, 
gathered  from  every  quarter  through  which  I  have  passed,  is 
that  the  Cotton  States  will  secede  separately  and  immediately ; 
to  be  followed  in  a  very  short  period  by  the  border  States  and 
thus  will  result  a  Southern  Confederacy. 

"  I  will  write  you  more  at  length  as  leisure  gives  me  oppor 
tunity. 

"  With  grateful  recollection  of  your  courtesy  and  attentions, 
"  I  am,  very  truly  yours, 

"  HUGH  ARCHER.'' 

"  TALLAHASSEE,  Jan.  22nd,  1861. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York. 

"  My  Dear  Colonel: — Your  esteemed  favor  is  just  received, 
and  I  regret  to  see  that  you  are  less  hopeful  as  events  pro 
gress.  I  feel  much  more  hopeful  to-day  than  I  did  two  weeks 
since.  I  read  Mr.  Seward's  speech  last  night  and  I  must  say 
I  gathered  some  consolation  therefrom.  He  evidently  ignores 
the  irrepressible.  As  an  ultimatum  it  won't  do  at  all ;  but  I 
regard  this  speech  as  an  entering  wedge.  Tell  your  people  to 
press  conciliation.  It  is  useless  to  talk  of  whipping  in  the 
South.  It  can't  be  done.  We  are  much  better  prepared  for 
fighting  than  we  believe  ourselves  to  be,  and  the  nerve  is  here. 
Old  Waddy  Thompson  misrepresented  the  Northern  people 
when  he  said  there  is  no  fight  in  them.  We  know  they  will 
fight,  but  we  will  be  defending  our  homes  in  such  a  fight,  and 
so  our  people  regard  it.  The  trouble  is  they  are  too  anxious. 
We  have  adopted  secession  as  a  remedy,  not  because  we  abhor 
the  Union  with  the  Constitution.  I  believe  everything  will 
come  right,  and  we  can  reconstruct  upon  a  fair  and  equitable 
basis.  It  can't  be  done  though  by  coercion.  The  only  obstacle 
I  see  is  Old  Buck;  he  is  not  equal  to  the  emergency 

"  I  see  your  friend  Gen.  Dix  is  in  the  Cabinet. 

(<  Yours  truly, 

"  HUGH    ARCHER." 


ii6  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  GEORGETOWN,  S.  C.,  Feb.  3,  1861. 
"  COL.  R.  LATHERS, 

"  Winyah  Park,  New  Rochelle,  N.  Y. 

"Dear  Lathers: — Accept  thanks  for  the  documents  you 
have  from  time  to  time  sent  me.  I  would  have  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  them  before,  but  I  was  away  from  home  per 
forming  in  my  humble  way,  the  duties  of  Senator  from  the  good 
old  parish  which  gave  me  birth  and  gives  me  bread. 

"  No  one  in  the  State  came  more  reluctantly  than  myself 
to  the  conclusion,  that  this  Union  would,  and  ought  to  be 
dissolved.  But  the  conclusion  was  irresistible.  All  hope  of 
reconstructing  it  is  as  vain  and  futile,  as  '  was  the  attempt  of 
the  builders  on  the  plains  of  Shinar  to  connect  earth  with 
heaven.'  It  is  irrevocably  broken  up,  and  neither  conciliation 
nor  compromise,  nor  blood  nor  fire,  nor  sword  can  bind  it 
together  again.  The  North  and  South  have  lost  faith  and 
confidence  in  each  other.  In  fact  they  hate  each  other  with 
a  deeper  and  more  bitter  hate  than  Frenchmen  ever  betrayed 
to  Englishmen ;  such  being  the  case,  harmony  and  good  feeling 
can  never  be  restored  between  the  sections.  The  spirit  of  in 
tolerance,  which  has  always  marked  the  conduct  of  the  Puritan, 
has  taken  full  possession  of  the  Northern  mind.  The  prev 
alence  of  that  spirit  is  inconsistent  with  our  rights  and  in 
terests,  and  threatens  our  very  existence  if  we  remain  in  the 
Union.  The  Constitution,  the  paramount  law  of  the  land,  has 
completely  lost  its  hold  upon  the  affections  of  the  people  of 
the  North,  and  so  far  as  protection  to  the  South  under  it  is 
concerned,  it  is  as  impotent  of  power  as  a  blank  sheet  of  paper 
would  be.  It  is  idle  to  talk  about  amendments  to  the  Consti 
tution.  It  is  good  enough  as  it  is.  What  avail  is  the  most 
ample  provision  on  parchment  for  our  protection  and  safety, 
if  the  spirit  of  the  people  is  against  carrying  it  into  execution  ? 
On  the  plea  of  raising  revenue,  we  have  been  robbed  by  plun 
dering  tariffs.  Under  the  so-called  '  right  of  petition/  we  have 
been  insulted  in  the  language  of  the  fish-market.  On  the  plea 
of  raising  a  nursery  for  seamen,  our  amiable  brethren  of  New 
England  receive  annually  large  sums  of  money  from  the  public 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  117 

treasury,  for  being  accommodating  enough  to  catch  and  eat 
their  own  codfish ;  which  sums  are  piously  expended  in  the 
humane  work  of  stealing  our  negroes ! 

<(  If  the  denunciation  of  us  and  our  institutions  came  alone 
from  politicians  and  place  men,  we  might  hesitate ;  but  we 
believe  and  know  that  the  abolition  of  African  slavery  in  the 
States,  is  the  dominant  political  faith  of  the  people  of  the 
North.  We  are  satisfied  that  it  is  a  religious  sentiment,  which 
they  honestly  entertain.  The  young  men  and  women  of  the 
North  have  sucked  their  sentiment  at  their  mothers'  breasts,  and 
learned  it  at  their  mothers'  knees.  It  is  taught  at  their  schools 
and  colleges  that  our  system  of  slavery  is  a  sin  so  demoralizing 
as  to  make  barbarians  of  us.  The  pretended  heralds  of  the 
Cross,  Sabbath  after  Sabbath,  desecrate  their  pulpits  by  a  re 
cital  of  the  imaginary  wrongs  and  enormities  of  which  the 
slave-holder  is  held  up  as  the  cause,  and  the  slave,  the  victim ; 
and  thousands  hang  breathless  on  their  words. 

"  Under  such  a  state  of  things  how  can  we  live  together? 
There  can  be  no  more  affiliation  between  the  people  of  the 
North  and  the  South,  than  there  can  be  between  truth  and  false 
hood,  courage  and  cowrardice.  It  would  be  as  easy  to  har 
monize  equality  with  inferiority,  as  to  live  together  again  with 
this  sentiment,  active,  dominant  and  aggressive,  added  to  the 
fact  that  all  the  energetic  tendencies  of  the  incoming  adminis 
tration,  will  combine  to  swell  the  force  and  consolidate  the  do 
minion  of  Abolition.  Where  is  our  safety  and  what  is  our 
resource,  if  we  do  not  go  out  of  this  Union,  although  we  might 
be  obliged  to  cut  our  very  way  out  with  the  sword?  It  is 
to-day  an  almost  universal  sentiment,  from  South  Carolina  to 
the  Rio  Grande,  that  any  government  is  preferable  to  the  '  vul 
gar  tyranny  '  of  the  Yankee,  whose  conscience  is  never  offended 
and  whose  sensibility  is  never  wounded  by  any  transaction  or 
thing  which  places  money  in  his  pocket.  Even  the  horrors  of 
the  '  Middle  Passage '  find  with  him  justification  in  the  lap 
full  of  gold,  which  his  inhuman  traffic  fetches,  while  in  hypo 
critical  and  deceitful  tone  he  whines  over  the  imaginary 
distresses  of  the  most  happy  and  contented,  and  best-cared-for 


ii8  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

people  on  the  globe.  With  such  a  people  we  can  no  longer  re 
main  in  partnership,  and  will  not.  We  would  be  less  than  men 
and  more  than  cowards,  if  the  apprehension  of  civil  war,  with 
all  its  concomitant  tumult,  distress,  peril  and  misery  arrested 
our  course.  When  I  speak  of  the  people  of  the  North,  I  speak 
of  them  collectively  as  communities,  and  body  politics — as 
States.  We  all  know  and  appreciate  the  patriotic  stand  taken 
by  the  O'Conors  and  Bradys  and  yourself,  and  your  immediate 
political  friends ;  but  it  cannot  close  our  eyes  to  the  significant 
fact,  that  the  Constitutional  men  at  the  North  are  in  a  hope 
less  minority,  and  powerless  to  stay  the  course  of  those  who  are 
bent  on  our  destruction.  It  is  with  us  not  merely  a  question 
of  policy  or  expediency,  but  one  of  existence,  which  you  must 
look  squarely  in  the  face.  The  stake  is  life  against  death, 
and  with  God's  aid  we  will  play  a  bold  game  to  win.  If  we 
win,  our  children  will  bless  our  memory ;  if  we  lose,  history, 
which  seldom  judges  unjustly  and  never  ungenerously,  will 
certainly  record  that  we  did  not  part  with  our  birthright  with 
out  a  brave  effort  to  keep  it.  But  we  have  no  fear  of  defeat. 
We  are  contending  for  our  homes  and  our  firesides,  our  fam 
ilies  and  our  altars ;  and  the  encouraging  smiles  and  the  sacred 
tears  of  our  wives  and  our  daughters,  bid  us  do  our  duty 
bravely  and  well. 

"  But  why  may  we  not  part  in  peace?  It  is  useless  to  disguise 
the  fact,  that  we  can  never  again  live  together  in  peace.  As 
two  peoples  we  may  get  along ;  as  one,  we  never  can.  The  per 
fidious  treachery  and  faithlessness  of  Mr.  Buchanan  will  prob 
ably  prevent  a  peaceful  solution  of  our  difficulties.  Untrue  to 
friends  and  treacherous  to  foes,  and  playing  coward  to  both, 
he  has  earned  a  degree  of  infamy  which  will  attach  to  his 
name  forever.  Reckless  of  plighted  faith  and  regardless  of 
personal  honor,  he  will  live  in  history  only  to  be  despised.  His 
whole  course  has  been  one  of  duplicity  and  cowardice.  He 
has  deliberately  attempted  to  deceive  both  sides,  and  has  been 
detected  and  exposed  by  both.  But  enough  of  him. 

"  If  it  should  so  happen  that  civil  war  is  to  follow  the  course 
which  our  necessities  oblige  us  to  pursue,  we  feel  that  none  of 


EFFORTS    TO    SAVE    THE    UNION  119 

its  responsibility  will  attach  to  us.  We  have  never  concerned 
ourselves  with  the  local  institutions  of  the  North.  We  have 
left  them  to  determine  their  own  affairs  according  to  their  own 
comforts,  and  we  are  determined  to  manage  our  affairs  ac 
cording  to  our  own  will  and  pleasure,  unmindful  of  the  smiles 
or  frowns  of  the  people  of  the  North. 

"  With  the  liveliest  remembrance  of  the  pleasant  and  happy 
times  we  had  together  in  this  good  old  town,  I  am, 
"  Very  truly  and  faithfully  your  friend, 

i(  BENJAMIN  N.  WILSON." 


CHAPTER     V 

SOUTHERN    MISSION 

IN  spite  of  the  unfavorable  tone  of  the  letters  received  from 
Southerners  and  the  rush  of  events  towards  secession,  the  mis 
sion  to  the  South  arranged  for  by  the  Pine  Street  meeting  was 
not  abandoned.  Mr.  Bronson  C.  Greene  and  Ex-President 
Fillmore  having  excused  themselves  from  serving  as  envoys — 
the  latter  on  the  ground  of  feeble  health — the  Committee  on 
Address  and  Resolutions  requested  me  to  undertake  the  mis 
sion  alone,  and  I  consented  to  do  so. 

Accordingly,  I  left  New  York  in  February,  1861,  for  the 
South.  At  Washington  I  found  the  Peace  Convention,  pre 
sided  over  by  Ex-President  Tyler,  in  session.  This  convention, 
made  up  of  delegates  from  the  several  States,  which  was  due 
to  the  initiative  of  Virginia,  was  the  last  organized  effort  to 
prevent  secession.  It  was  unable  to  provide  a  peaceful  solu 
tion  of  the  difficulties  which  the  leaders  in  Congress  were  will 
ing  to  adopt ;  and  yet, — with  a  few  radical  exceptions — there 
seemed  to  be  a  great  desire  among  the  delegates  to  bring  about 
a  reconciliation. 

I  was  particularly  well  received  by  Ex-President  Tyler  and 
Vice-President  Breckinridge,  who,  with  other  Southern 
leaders,  gave  me  warm  letters  of  introduction  to  the  President 
of  the  Confederacy  and  to  prominent  men  in  the  cities  to 
which  my  mission  led  me. 

In  Richmond  I  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  James  Lyons 
and  other  distinguished  Virginians  who,  while  expressing  sym 
pathy  with  the  Address  and  the  purpose  of  the  mission,  re 
garded  the  "  overture,"  as  they  called  it,  as  coming  too  late 
to  accomplish  its  patriotic  purpose.  I  could  perceive  a  strong 
desire  to  save  the  Union  among  the  substantial  citizens,  but 
this  Union  sentiment  was  constantly  antagonized  by  secession 

120 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  121 

orators  who  predicted  that  the  in-coming  administration  would 
be  an  Abolition  administration  with  so  much  positiveness  as 
to  alarm  the  slave  holders. 

On  reaching  Charleston  I  found  the  city  filled  with  the 
leading  men  of  the  State,  who  were  employed  in  forming  an 
independent  government,  devising  a  tariff  for  revenue,  con 
structing  fortifications,  and  organizing  an  army. 

My  former  Major,  General  Jameson,  was  Secretary  of  War 
of  the  Secession  Government,  and  my  former  brigadier-gen 
eral,  Harlee  (under  whose  command  I  had  been  drilled  in 
camp  duty  as  Colonel  of  the  3ist  Regiment  of  South  Carolina 
Militia),  was  Postmaster-General.  The  former  U.  S.  Minister 
to  Russia,  General  Pickens,  had  been  recently  elected  Governor 
of  the  State.  My  old  and  valued  friend  Judge  Gordon  Magrath, 
who  had  resigned  from  the  United  States  District  Court,  was 
his  Secretary  of  State,  and  another  esteemed  friend,  Hon.  C. 
G.  Memminger,  his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  These  officials 
had  always  been  conservatives  and  had  been  known  as  earnest 
Union  men.  Unfortunately,  their  judgment  had  been  over 
borne  by  the  dangerous  Southern  dogma  of  State  Sovereignty. 

At  a  dinner  given  to  me  by  Governor  Pickens,  I  presented 
to  him  with  appropriate  remarks  the  New  York  "  Address." 
The  Governor  responded  feelingly  that  the  proceedings  of  the 
New  York  meeting  and  its  Address  were  worthy  of  their 
source,  but  that  this  effort  at  the  North  to  placate  the  South 
had  come  too  late,  he  was  sorry  to  say,  to  save  the  Union.  Yet 
here  and  elsewhere  in  the  South  I  could  perceive  in  the  midst 
of  much  bluster  for  war,  hopes  that  a  peaceful  settlement  would 
be  effected  by  the  efforts  of  the  conservatives  throughout  the 
country.  I  met  the  leading  citizens  in  their  clubs,  counting- 
houses,  and  banks,  as  well  as  in  their  parlors,  and  I  found  that 
there  were  among  them  not  a  few  earnest  Union  men  who  were 
following  the  lead  of  such  distinguished  Charlestonians  as 
Hon.  James  L.  Petigru,  Hon.  George  S.  Bryan,  Hon.  Alfred 
Huger  (Postmaster  of  the  city,)  Ex-Governor  William  Aiken 
(the  Astor  of  Charleston  and  the  wealthiest  citizen  in  the 
State),  and  Col.  Donald  L.  McKay  (President  of  the  principal 


122   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Charleston  bank).  These  gentlemen,  Southerners  of  the  high 
est  type,  although  resenting  strongly  the  Abolitionist  en 
croachments  upon  Southern  rights,  opposed  secession  as  a 
remedy  worse  than  the  disease,  advocating,  instead,  Calhoun's 
idea  of  legislative  resistance  within  the  Union.  Yet  such  is 
the  power  of  sectional  enthusiasm  that  they  were  unable  to  re 
sist  secession  effectively — the  more  that  the  youths  in  their 
own  families  were  in  many  cases  among  the  most  zealous  se 
cessionists. 

The  Governor  and  my  old  friend  General  Jameson  in 
vited  Mrs.  Lathers  and  myself  to  visit  with  a  party  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  Fort  Moultrie,  where  the  young  recruits  for 
the  Confederate  army  were  encamped. 

In  passing  down  the  harbor  our  attention  was  attracted  by 
a  singular  object  resembling  in  appearance  a  gigantic  packing 
box.  It  was  a  flat-bottomed  scow  (such  as  is  used  on  the 
Southern  rivers  for  the  transportation  of  cotton),  supplied 
with  artillery  and  roofed  over  with  bars  of  railway  iron  which 
formed  a  sort  of  bomb-proof  protection  for  the  artillery  in 
action.  This  floating  battery  was  found  to  be  effective  at  its 
first  trial  in  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter.  It  was  here,  perhaps, 
that  the  iron-clad  craft  in  this  country  had  its  origin. 

When  our  party  reached  Fort  Moultrie,  the  ladies  took 
their  stand  to  be  saluted  by  a  discharge  of  artillery.  Unfortu 
nately,  either  the  guns  were  not  secure  or  they  were  over 
loaded,  for  one  of  them  tumbled  off  the  parapet  when  it  was 
fired,  greatly  to  the  alarm  of  the  fair  friends  of  the  artillery 
man  and  greatly  to  the  mortification  of  General  Jameson,  who 
had  invited  us  to  witness  the  proficiency  of  the  young  recruits. 
The  General,  after  taking  us  around  the  fortifications  and 
calling  our  attention  to  the  great  progress  of  the  soldiers, 
most  of  whom  were  students  in  the  Military  Academy  and 
young  men  of  distinguished  families,  asked  me,  "  What  have 
you  to  say?  "  "  It  makes  me  feel  sad,"  I  answered,  "  as  I  re 
flect  that  these  young  men  are  too  precious  to  the  State  to  be 
made  food  for  gunpowder  in  a  civil  war.  They  will  fight  chiefly 
against  hired,  enlisted  foreigners.  The  rich  North  can  hire 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  123 

more  foreigners  when  the  Northern  ranks  are  depleted;  but 
by  what  means  can  you  replace  these  scions  of  your  best  fam 
ilies  ?  To  me,  General,  this  coming  war  is  an  unequal  hazard. 
You  stake  the  vital  institution  of  the  State  and  your  best  blood 
against  fearful  odds.  You  must  recollect  that  the  Yankees 
fought  in  the  Revolution  for  your  firesides  as  well  as  for  their 
own.  It  is  unsafe  to  suppose  that  lapse  of  time  has  rendered 
their  sons  incapable  of  defending  their  Union." 

Anent  the  preparations  for  the  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  the 
celebrated  Charleston  Sheriff,  Sandy  Brown,  told  me  a  story 
that  is  worth  repeating.  President  Davis,  it  seems,  had  de 
tailed  several  experienced  military  engineers  to  perfect  the  bat 
teries  intended  for  assaulting  the  Fort.  Numerous  conferences 
were  held  as  to  the  possibility  of  capturing  it  without  loss  of 
life  on  either  side ;  for  even  the  most  pronounced  secessionists 
desired  to  avoid  bloodshed.  During  one  of  these  conferences 
a  French  military  engineer,  who  claimed  to  have  a  well-digested 
plan  for  taking  the  Fort  without  any  loss  of  Confederate 
soldiers,  sent  in  his  card.  He  was  invited  in  and  seated  at  the 
table.  After  drinking  the  health  of  President  Davis,  he  set 
about  developing  his  plan.  From  a  little  box  he  took  several 
miniature  vessels  which  he  called  bateaux.  He  placed  a  de 
canter  of  Madeira  in  front  of  him  to  represent  Fort  Sumter, 
and  arranged  the  little  vessels  in  a  circular  line  for  the  attack. 
He  called  the  attention  of  his  audience  to  the  very  high  bul 
warks  intended  to  protect  the  attacking  force  and  explained 
that  they  were  to  be  let  down  when  the  cannon  were  fired.  He 
then  commenced  to  demonstrate :  "  Zis  bateau  sail  forward, 
let  down  ze  bulwark  and  fire  ze  cannon,  bam !  !  !  Ze  Yonkee 
fall.  Zis  little  bateau  come  forward,  let  down  ze  bulwark,  fire 
ze  gun,  bam!  !  !  and  ze  Yonkee  fall."  The  Confederate  offi 
cers  stood  this  until  the  French  officer  had  discharged  the 
third  cannon,  when  the  Chairman  said,  "  But  suppose  the  Fort 
should  fire  into  your  fleet?"  "What!"  said  the  astonished 
Frenchman,  "  Ze  fort  fire !  ze  fort  fire !  !  "  "  Why  certainly," 
said  the  disgusted  officer.  "  Ah,  den,  ze  experiment  will  fail." 
The  French  officer  had  understood  from  what  he  had  heard 


124  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

that  the  Yankees  were  prohibited  by  the  Constitution  from  mak 
ing  war  on  a  sovereign  State.  The  fact  is  that  the  slowness  of 
the  Government  in  asserting  its  power  against  this  perversion 
of  the  State  Rights  doctrine  in  South  Carolina  largely  en 
couraged  secession  in  other  States. 

At  every  reception  to  which  Mrs.  Lathers  and  I  were  invited 
I  found  exceedingly  clever  feminine  antagonists  fully  equipped 
with  the  most  ingenious  arguments  in  defense  of  secession. 
To  turn  the  current  of  conversation  on  one  occasion  I  said 

to  one  of  these  fair  secessionists,  "  Surely  Miss ,  you 

are  not  in  favor  of  your  fiance  going  to  fight  the  Yankees  on 
the  eve  of  your  marriage."  She  quickly  replied,  "  If  he  had 
not  promptly  volunteered  for  the  defense  of  our  State,  he  never 
could  have  entered  this  house ;  and,  indeed,  he  could  not  have 
had  access  to  any  parlor  in  the  city  again.  No  woman  of 
Carolina  would  for  a  moment  tolerate  a  coward." 

It  may  be  safely  affirmed  that  the  women  of  the  South  per 
fected  if  they  did  not  originate  secession ;  for,  while  I  met  many 
Union  men  in  Charleston,  I  did  not  meet  a  single  Union  woman. 
This  feminine  influence  filled  the  Confederate  army  with  en 
thusiastic  young  men  and  drove  even  poltroons  to  take  up 
arms. 

Notwithstanding  all  this  revolutionary  fervor,  the  best  of 
good  feeling  towards  Northern  residents  or  visitors  prevailed 
in  Charleston.  I  was  permitted  to  treat  the  most  burning 
issues  night  after  night  in  clubs  and  social  gatherings,  and 
was  replied  to  with  the  politeness  customary  at  the  South  be 
tween  gentlemen.  Perhaps  the  abuse  which  was  being  heaped 
upon  me  at  this  time  by  radical  journals  at  the  North  tended 
to  endear  me  to  these  people.  But,  in  general,  the  question 
of  secession  could  be  freely  and  fully  discussed  in  any  quarter, 
public  or  private.  Secession  was  held  to  be  so  far  above  dis 
pute  that  Unionist  ideas  were  rather  to  be  pitied  than  resented. 

One  evening,  in  the  parlor  of  the  Mills  House,  the  Captain 
of  a  United  States  armed  vessel  which  had  brought  into  port 
a  captured  slaver,  was  conversing  with  a  number  of  prominent 
gentlemen.  He  was  explaining  the  mode  of  the  capture  and 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  125 

the  probable  result  to  the  negroes  and  crew.  A  drunken 
fellow  kept  interrupting  him  and  the  officer  kept  moving  away 
from  him  till  the  fellow,  deliberately  placing  himself  in  front 
of  him,  said,  "  You  are  a  damned  liar."  The  officer,  a  six- 
foot  native  of  Maine,  with  a  hand  like  a  sledge  hammer,  drew 
off  and  struck  him  in  the  face  with  such  power  as  to  send 
him  about  ten  feet  into  the  corner  of  the  room  as  limp  as  a 
bag  of  bones.  The  spectators  neither  moved  nor  spoke.  The 
fellow,  perceiving  that  he  had  no  sympathy,  gathered  himself 
together,  and,  with  a  reproachful  look  at  the  company,  left  the 
room.  Then  one  of  the  men,  Ex-Governor  Gist,  I  think 
(among  the  first  of  these  brave  men  to  sacrifice  his  life  at 
Bull  Run),  quietly  said,  "  Go  on,  Captain,  with  your  story." 
The  next  morning  a  very  rabid  secession  Colonel  grasped  the 
Captain  by  the  hand  and  said,  "  You  are  a  brave  man.  We 
were  all  delighted  with  your  patient  and  gallant  conduct  last 
night ;  but  when  you  return  home,  don't  boast  of  slapping  a 
Carolinian  in  the  face.  That  fellow  is  not  a  Southerner. 
No  Southern  gentleman  would  have  insulted  a  stranger  at  such 
a  time.  The  fact  is,  he  is  the  son  of  a  Yankee  tailor,  anxious 
to  curry  favor  by  displaying  a  sort  of  cheap  patriotism  that 
would  disgrace  our  cause." 

A  ludicrous  incident  of  a  somewhat  different  nature  occurred 
one  day  in  the  space  in  front  of  the  Post  Office  building,  which 
was  much  used  as  a  forum  by  persons  wishing  to  harangue  the 
people  on  public  matters.  A  very  pleasing  speaker,  who  had 
taken  an  empty  barrel  for  a  rostrum,  was  orating  on  the  ne 
cessity  of  secession,  and  was  giving  profuse  assurances  of  the 
support  of  the  Democratic  party  in  the  North.  In  accentuating 
his  speech  he  stamped  very  violently  on  the  barrel  head,  which 
gave  way,  and  in  falling  into  the  barrel  he  fractured  his  leg. 
The  audience,  filled  with  sympathy,  sent  him  tenderly  to  the 
hospital.  The  next  day  exposed  the  fact  that  he  was  a  cor 
respondent  of  the  New  York  Tribune  who  had  been  most 
abusive  of  the  Secessionists  of  the  State.  The  joke  was  fully 
appreciated,  and  he  was  most  kindly  cared  for  at  the  hospital 
until  able  to  return  to  the  North. 


126  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

The  following  private  letter  which  I  wrote  from  Charleston 
and  which  was  printed  in  the  New  York  Journal  of  Commerce 
of  March  9,  1861,  gives  a  clearer  idea  of  conditions  in  Charles 
ton  at  that  time  than  any  memories  I  can  now  evoke : 

"  PEOPLE'S  BANK, 
''CHARLESTON,  March  i,  1861. 

"  My  dear  Sir: — There  appears  to  be  no  young  man  here 
who  is  not  on  active  duty,  almost  daily.  Indeed,  on  reflec 
tion,  I  cannot  recall  a  single  individual  of  my  acquaintance 
under  forty  years  of  age  who  is  not  enrolled  for  duty ;  and 
most  of  them  are  actively  engaged.  My  visit  here  has  been 
one  of  great  pleasure.  I  meet  daily  the  leading  civil  and 
military  officers  of  the  State,  in  the  most  unreserved  manner ; 
and,  although  you  know  I  never  conceal  my  love  of  the  Union, 
and  my  regret  that  it  is  to  be  broken  up,  yet  my  views  are 
tolerated.  The  Governor  told  me  a  few  nights  ago,  that  when 
he  heard  that  a  Commission  had  been  appointed  by  the  Pine 
Street  Meeting  to  visit  the  State,  he  directed  a  telegraphic  dis 
patch  to  be  sent  to  New  York,  to  say  that  the  Commission 
would  be  received  with  all  honor.  I  was  mortified  to  find  that 
he  had  not  received  a  copy  of  our  proceedings.  The  sentiment 
of  that  meeting  was  grateful  to  public  feeling  here,  and  Mr. 
McKeon's  speech  was  considered  a  true  exposition  of  the 
Southern  views  on  the  subject  at  that  time. 

'  Then,  the  Union  could  have  been  saved,  by  a  prompt  ces 
sation  of  Republican  aggression ;  and  Georgia  was  regarded 
by  the  most  sanguine  here,  as  opposed  to  secession,  till  Major 
Anderson  garrisoned  Fort  Sumter,  contrary  to  express  agree 
ment  between  the  Governor  and  the  President :  and  even  after 
that,  had  the  least  glimmering  of  redress  come  from  Washing 
ton  the  secession  would  have  been  confined  to  South  Carolina. 

'  There  was  a  latent  love  of  the  Union,  even  in  Charleston, 
till  the  last  hope  was  literally  crushed  out  by  the  hostile,  defiant 
and  most  abusive  course  of  Republican  leaders  and  newspapers 
in  Washington  and  at  the  North.  Only  men  of  refinement 
can  Appreciate  the  effect  of  such  hostility  upon  a  brave  people 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  127 

who,  feeling  themselves  and  their  institutions  maligned,  are 
taunted  as  too  cowardly  to  resent  the  insult.  Stolid  men  and 
lovers  of  material  wealth  have  a  very  inadequate  idea  of  the 
sensitiveness  which  prevails  in  a  community  like  that  of  South 
Carolina,  as  to  its  institutions  and  the  sacred  character  of 
reputations,  personal  and  political.  No  man  whose  reputation 
can  be  assailed  in  a  point  of  honor  fills  a  political  position  here. 
And  perhaps  the  great  source  of  the  present  unanimity  in  de 
fense  of  State  rights  against  the  fearful  odds  of  Federal  power 
(by  no  means  underrated  here),  is  the  unflinching  confidence 
which  €very  South  Carolinian  feels  in  every  other  South  Caro 
linian  under  the  most  trying  circumstances.  No  one  here  dares 
deceive  his  neighbors ;  if  one  marches  through  the  fire  he  is 
sure  to  be  fully  supported  in  the  terrible  ordeal;  shoulder  to 
shoulder  all  invoke  a  common  fate. 

"  Did  I  not  daily  see  the  contrary,  I  should  suppose  that  a 
sense  of  prudence  would  sometimes  tone  down  the  extraor 
dinary  temerity  of  these  people — that  the  demand  for  sacri 
fices  of  financial  prosperity,  of  comfort,  and  of  life  itself 
would  limit,  at  least  to  some  extent,  this  enthusiastic  devotion 
to  an  idea.  But  no.  On  the  part  of  all  ages,  sexes  and  con 
ditions,  there  is  a  determination  to  resist  Northern  domination, 
and  to  assert  the  sovereignty  of  their  State  in  the  most  prac 
tical  manner  and  at  any  cost  of  life  or  treasure. 

"  All  this,  too,  is  done  in  the  most  calm,  and  thoughtful 
manner.  The  dangers  are  fully  admitted,  the  sacrifices  freely 
discussed.  No  attempt  is  made  to  disguise  the  facts. 

"  My  old  friend  Judge  Frost,  a  gentleman  of  the  old  school, 
took  me  by  the  hand  a  few  days  since,  and  pushing  aside  his 
gray  hair,  in  a  manner  peculiar  to  him,  said,  '  I  may  never  see 
you  again ;  I  have  enjoyed  the  comforts  of  affluence,  and  may 
soon  descend  to  poverty,  or  may  lose  the  lives  of  those  dearest 
to  me,  and  perish  myself  in  the  coming  struggle;  but  Union 
man  as  I  have  always  been  (as  you  know),  I  have  with  every 
deliberation  counted  the  cost,  and  I  give  my  free  consent  to 
the  position  of  my  State,  and  she  shall  have  my  last  feeble 
efforts  in  her  defense,  to  vindicate  her  rights  and  separate  her 


128  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

people  from  those  that  have  hated  and  maligned  her  insti 
tutions.' 

"  I  met,  a  few  nights  ago,  a  distinguished  and  accomplished 
young  lady  who  had  been  engaged  during  the  day,  as  all  the 
women  here  are  now,  in  making  clothing  for  the  soldiers.  She 
informed  me  that  her  two  brothers  were  in  the  army  at  Sulli 
van's  Island,  and  that  her  father  had  just  broken  his  leg 
accidentally,  a  misfortune  which  she,  in  common  with  himr 
deplored  solely  because  she  feared  hostilities  might  be  com 
menced  before  he  should  be  sufficiently  restored  to  join  his 
sons.  You  can  form  no  idea  of  the  universality  of  the  en 
thusiasm  for  the  defense.  One  half  of  the  employees  of  every 
bank,  insurance  company  and  mercantile  or  industrial  estab 
lishment  are  performing  active  military  duty.  So  are  about 
the  same  proportion  of  the  officers  and  proprietors  of  most  of 
these  establishments.  Furthermore,  those  who  are  not  engaged 
in  active  duty  drill  nights.  The  professional  men,  not  exclud 
ing  the  clergy,  are  performing  tasks  connected  with  the  general 
defense.  The  women  not  only  vie  with  each  other  in  restrict 
ing  their  expenses  for  dress  and  in  giving  these  economies  to 
the  military  chest,  but  are  fabricating  clothing  and  other  com 
forts  for  the  army.  My  friend  General  Harlee,  who,  you  will 
recollect,  distinguished  himself  years  ago  in  the  Florida  War, 
and  more  recently  as  President  of  one  of  our  State  railroads, 
is  here  in  the  capacity  of  Lieutenant  Governor,  and  a  leading 
member  of  the  Council  informs  me  that  the  services  of  a  com 
pany  have  just  been  accepted  from  his  own  section  of  the  State, 
whose  aggregate  wealth  is  over  a  million  of  dollars.  There  is 
a  single  regiment  now  stationed  at  one  of  the  forts,  whose  de 
struction  would  put  every  distinguished  family  in  the  State 
in  mourning.  One  of  the  companies  there  is  commanded  by  a 
Minister  of  the  Episcopal  church,  and  has  in  the  ranks  ten 
divinity  students.  My  old  schoolfellow,  the  Rev.  A.  Toomer 
Porter,  one  of  the  most  pious  and  practically  charitable  clergy 
men  in  the  city,  adds  to  his  other  duties  the  Chaplainship  of 
one  of  the  Volunteer  Corps  (composed  of  his  old  friends  and 
college  mates)  which  is  stationed  on  the  coast.  He  informs 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  129 

me  that,  being  rowed  to  the  city  from  the  camp  last  Sunday, 
he  had  the  curiosity  to  notice  the  names  of  the  persons  ordered 
out  of  the  ranks  to  row  the  boat  and  was  surprised  to  find  a 
Huger,  a  Lounds,  a  Rutledge,  and  a  Ravenel, — four  of  the  most 
distinguished  names  of  the  State.  Even  the  slaves  seem  to  take 
intense  pleasure  in  helping  their  masters  in  the  trenches. 

"  While  I  write,  a  large  number  of  slaves  pass  my  window, 
just  relieved  from  one  of  the  forts.  Each  of  them  has  his 
blanket  and  his  cooking  apparatus,  sports  a  palmetto  branch  in 
his  hat  and  whistles  or  sings  a  popular  air  to  march  by.  Last 
week  I  visited  the  foundry,  and  found  the  negroes  casting  can 
non  balls.  A  Northern  lady  with  me  said  '  See  those  slaves 
making  balls  to  kill  Abolitionists  with  ! '  Nothing  can  be  more 
preposterous  than  the  idea  that  the  negroes  are  an  element  of 
weakness  to  the  South.  Mutual  kindness  and  confidence  are 
patent  everywhere,  and  I  was  struck  with  the  remark  of  a  lady 
to  a  friend  of  mine  a  few  days  ago,  when  she  requested  him 
'  not  to  be  absent  all  night,  as  he  must  recollect  that  since 
John's  death  she  had  no  protection  on  the  premises  during  his 
absence/  John  being  a  slave  who  lived  and  slept  in  the  kitchen 
building.  He  had  died  quite  recently,  while  Mistress  did  the 
last  offices  at  his  bedside,  and  Master  was  vainly  rubbing  his 
paralyzed  limbs  to  restore  animation. 

"  At  present,  the  larger  part  of  the  white  population  is  en 
gaged  in  military  affairs,  leaving  the  negroes  almost  alone  on 
the  plantations ;  but  crops  are  being  put  in  as  usual  and  such  a 
thing  as  fear  of  an  insurrection  is  never  thought  of. 

"  The  expenses  of  the  defenses  here  of  course  are  very 
heavy,  but  they  have  been  defrayed  thus  far  without  any  in 
convenience  by  voluntary  contributions  of  all  the  citizens,  and 
the  seven  per  cent,  loan  is  being  daily  subscribed  for  by  all 
classes,  who  seem  to  desire  to  assist  the  State  in  its  trying 
exigency. 

"I  am 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 


130  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

From  Charleston  I  went  to  Savannah  and  Augusta,  Georgia, 
where  as  a  New  York  commission  merchant  I  had  formerly 
had  many  correspondents. 

On  reaching  Savannah  I  found  the  Governor  of  the  State 
located  in  the  same  hotel  with  myself.  Governor  Brown  was 
an  extreme  secessionist,  recruited  from  the  old  nullification  fac 
tion  of  South  Carolina,  of  which  State  he  was  a  native.  He  had 
just  seized  three  New  York  ships  in  retaliation  for  the  seizure 
of  a  consignment  of  arms  belonging  to  the  State  of  Georgia. 
This  unfortunate  zeal  without  knowledge  and  discretion  on 
the  part  of  the  police  of  New  York,  produced  great  excitement 
in  Savannah  as  a  clear  violation  of  law  under  the  Constitution. 
Even  Union  men  here  were  compelled  to  resent  it  as  an  insult 
to  the  State  which  could  not  be  of  any  assistance  in  conserving 
the  Union.  Upon  learning  of  this  affair,  I  communicated  with 
prominent  men  of  both  parties  in  New  York. 

The  letters  inserted  here  fully  explain  the  Georgia  contro 
versy  with  New  York,  and  the  surrender  of  the  New  York 
ships  by  Georgia. 

"NEW  YORK,  March  i5th,  1861. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  Savannah. 

"  Dear  Sir: —  ...  I  made  an  extract  of  your  letter  relative 
to  the  seized  arms  and  vessels  and  sent  it  to  Messrs.  Grinnel, 
Babcock  and  Hunt;  they  will  do  what  they  can.  Kennedy, 
the  policeman  who  seized  the  arms,  is  out  of  town ;  to  return 
to-morrow ;  Mr.  Babcock  will  see  him.  He  is  represented  as 
one  of  those  stubborn  fellows,  who,  having  done  a  wrong, 
proposes  to  take  the  consequences  rather  than  retract.  I  am 
told  that  his  own  counsel  told  him,  that  his  seizure  is  illegal, 
and  so  says  every  lawyer  and  every  merchant.  But  I  learn  also 
that  with  Kennedy,  it  is  a  personal  matter,  that  he  was  offended 
with  Mr.  Lamar,  who  he  says  accused  him  of  mal-practice,  and 
that  he  intends  to  try  the  case ;  has  given  security  for  damages, 
etc.,  and  if  mulcted,  as  a  matter  of  course,  the  city  will  be  asked 
to  pay  the  damages.  ...  It  appears  to  me  that  it  would  be  be 
coming  to  the  dignity  of  the  State  of  Georgia  to  let  the  thing 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  131 

take  its  legal  course.  If  the  Court  of  this  State  does  not  render 
justice,  Georgia  has  a  legal  remedy  in  the  United  States  Court 
against  the  State  of  New  York.  The  whole  thing  is  a  legal 
controversy,  not  a  national  one.  .  .  .  Now,  therefore,  will  not 
Governor  Brown  take  this  view  of  it  and  upon  this  informa 
tion  clear  his  skirts  and  the  honor  of  the  State  from  any  con 
nection  with  the  transaction  by  releasing  the  vessels  at  once? 
That  is  my  advice ;  such  a  course  would  more  effectually  place 
the  wrong  all  on  this  side  and  the  advantage  all  on  that. 

"  Secession  or  no  secession,  temporary  or  permanent,  the 
final  adjustment  of  difficulties  depends  upon  public  men  and 
public  bodies  refraining  from  speeches  and  action  foreign  to 
the  real  difficulties  and  of  an  irritating  character.  The  news 
papers  and  their  correspondents  are  at  present  greater  dis 
turbers  of  the  peace  than  the  real  difficulties  which  have  con 
tributed  to  disunion. 

"  Respectfully  &c., 

"JOHN   A.   PARKER." 

"  NEW  YORK,  March  i6th,  1861. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  Savannah, 

"  Dear  Sir: — Mr.  Babcock  and  some  of  the  members  of  the 
Republican  committee  who  went  to  Washington  with  Mr. 
Lathrop,  are  at  work  with  Kerrigan,  who  is  Kennedy's  security 
in  the  case  of  the  seized  arms,  to  get  their  release,  and  Mr. 
Lathrop  thinks  they  will  succeed.  I  hope  they  will,  but  I 
would  much  prefer  that  the  Governor  would  take  the  view 
in  my  letter  of  last  evening,  to  regard  it  as  a  contest  with  a 
dirty  policeman,  against  whose  acts  it  did  not  become  the  dig 
nity  of  the  State  to  retaliate  on  innocent  citizens.  Such  a 
course  would  gain  great  credit  here  for  the  Governor  and  his 
State,  and  the  principles  involved  appear  to  be  of  so  little 
national  importance,  that  there  is  every  reason  in  favor  of 
his  doing  so.  The  whole  thing  depends  here  on  nothing  else 
but  the  bad  temper  of  a  mischief-making  individual.  .  .  . 

"  Respectfully, 

"  JOHN  A.  PARKER." 


132   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  NEW  YORK,  March  i8th,  1861. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  Savannah,  Georgia. 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  have  this  morning  telegraphed  you,  '  The 
detained  goods  are  shipped  by  Cromwell's  Line,  please  com 
municate  to  G.  B.'  I  took  it  for  granted  that  you  would  un 
derstand  that  '  Detained  goods  '  meant  muskets,  and  that  '  G. 
B.'  was  legitimate  for  Governor  Brown.  The  muskets  were 
released  Saturday  night  and  immediately  shipped  via  Balti 
more  to  avoid  their  being  followed  by  any  other  hound  of  the 
police,  who  might  think  there  was  a  chance  of  gain  or  pelf  in 
them.  You  know  we  have  many  such  men  amongst  us.  It 
was  for  the  same  reason  that  my  telegram  was  written  enig 
matically  that  nothing  could  properly  transpire  out  of  doors 
until  they  were  fairly  gone.  The  release  was  obtained  by 
bringing  a  strong  pressure  to  bear  on  Kennedy's  security, 
Kerrigan.  Mr.  Grinnel,  Mr.  Babcock,  Mr.  Hunt,  Mr.  Low, 
Mr.  Lathrop,  all  interested  themselves  with  Mr.  Ward,  the 
owner  of  one  of  the  seized  vessels,  to  whose  care  they  were  at 
once  confided  and  who  immediately  took  them  in  charge  and 
shipped  them.  ...  "  Very  truly  yours  etc., 

"  JOHN  A.  PARKER." 

"SAVANNAH,  March  19,  1861. 
"  To  MESSRS.  SAMUEL  D.  BABCOCK,  AND  JOHN  A.  PARKER, 

"  New  York : 

"  Your  telegrams  of  yesterday  are  received.  The  New  York 
ships  have  been  released,  by  order  of  the  authorities  here  in 
consideration  of  the  surrender  of  the  arms  by  the  New  York 
Metropolitan  Police. 

"  H.  BRIGHAM, 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

"  If  Kennedy  had  not  given  up  the  arms,  the  ships  would  have 
been  sold  at  public  auction  at  Savannah,  on  Monday  next. 
We  subjoin  Gov.  Brown's  instructions  to  his  aide-de-camp  to 
that  effect. 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  133 

" '  EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
"  '  MILLEDGEVILLE,  GA.,  March  2,  1861. 
"  '  COL.  HENRY  R.  JACKSON,  Aide-de-camp,  Savannah,  Ga. : 

Sir: — Unless  the  property  of  which  citizens  of  Georgia 
have  been  robbed  by  the  police  of  the  city  of  New  York,  who 
act  under  the  authority  of  the  Governor  of  that  State,  is  in  the 
meantime  delivered  to  the  owners,  by  virtue  of  the  power  vested 
in  me  as  Governor  and  Commander-in-Chief  of  the  Army  and 
Navy  of  this  State,  I  direct  that  you  advertise  immediately, 
and  expose  to  sale  on  Monday,  the  25th  day  of  this  month,  be 
tween  the  usual  hours  of  sale,  at  place  of  sheriff's  sales,  in  the 
City  of  Savannah,  the  following  New  York  vessels,  with  their 
tackle,  furniture,  and  apparel,  now  held  under  military  seizure, 
by  order,  as  reprisals,  to  wit :  Ship  Mary  J.  Ward,  and  schooner 
Julia  A.  Hallock.  These  vessels  are  to  be  sold  for  cash,  for 
the  purpose  of  indemnifying  citizens  of  Georgia  for  the  losses 
which  they  have  sustained  on  account  of  the  robberies  per 
petrated  by  the  New  York  authorities,  and  of  paying  all  ex 
penses  incurred  in  the  premises. 

"  '  JOSEPH  E.  BROWN, 

"  '  Governor  of  Georgia/  ': 

While  I  was  in  Savannah  Governor  Brown  narrated  to  me 
pleasantly  the  manner  in  which  he  had  captured  the  Arsenal — 
as  his  first  military  experience.  He  said  that  with  a  platoon 
of  militiamen,  commanded  by  a  lieutenant,  he  paid  a  courteous 
visit  to  the  commander  of  the  garrison  and  the  six  or  seven 
United  States  soldiers  who  were  placed  as  a  guard  over  the 
property.  When  he  had  made  known  the  object  of  his  visit, 
the  officer  in  command  replied  that  he  could  only  surrender 
the  post  to  an  overwhelming  force,  and  that  such  was  not  be 
fore  him.  The  Governor  retired  and  returned  to  the  Fort  with 
two  companies.  Again  the  officer  in  command,  after  looking 
over  the  Governor's  force,  declared  that  the  numbers  were 
not  sufficient  to  justify  him  in  delivering  up  the  property.  The 
Governor  told  him  good-naturedly  that  he  was  not  willing  to 


i34  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

have  his  militiamen  thus  undervalued,  and  took  possession  of 
the  Arsenal. 

Mrs.  Lathers  and  I  were  invited  by  the  Governor  to  go  down 
the  river  with  him  on  an  excursion  to  witness  the  raising  of 
the  Confederate  flag  on  Fort  Pickens,  which  had  just  been 
evacuated  by  the  United  States  garrison.  The  day  was  fine, 
and  the  banquet,  at  which  there  was  an  abundance  of  cham 
pagne,  developed  much  hilarity.  On  the  return  trip  the  band 
struck  up  "  Dixie,"  and  forthwith  a  line  was  formed,  each 
person  holding  the  coat  tail  of  the  person  preceding  him,  to 
march  round  the  deck  of  the  steamer  singing  and  keeping 
step  to  the  music.  The  Governor,  a  rigid  temperance  man  of 
the  Baptist  persuasion,  was  compelled  by  his  gay  companions 
to  head  the  line.  This  was  kept  up  for  over  an  hour  with  only 
occasional  rests  devoted  to  drinking  the  health  of  the  Gover 
nor  and  the  success  of  Dixie.  There  was  no  evidence  of  drunk 
enness  ;  but  the  scene  was  extremely  funny,  the  more  that  most 
of  the  party  were  officials  or  leading  citizens. 

Years  after  the  war,  when  visiting  the  Senate  Chamber  at 
Washington,  I  perceived  among  the  most  dignified-looking 
white-haired  members  of  that  body  "  old  Joe  Brown,"  no 
longer  the  fiery  leader  of  Dixie,  but  a  supporter  of  the  Union 
which  experience  had  taught  him  to  revere. 

Savannah,  at  this  period,  rather  exceeded  its  reputation  for 
genial  and  sumptuous  dinners.  At  a  dinner  given  by  Mr. 
Molyneux,  at  which  General  Lawton,  Mr.  Padelford  (a  Massa 
chusetts  merchant),  Senator  Robert  Toombs,  General  Bartow, 
Postmaster  Solomon  Cohen,  Robert  Gourdin  and  General 
Gordon  were  present,  the  conversation  turned  on  the  Confed 
erate  tariff,  which  many  held  to  be  out  of  harmony  with  free 
trade  and  unwise  and  impolitic  as  a  Southern  measure.  Robert 
Toombs  said  he  only  felt  the  loss  of  the  old  government  be 
cause  it  had  afforded  free  trade  among  the  States,  and  that  he 
now  had  to  pay  a  heavy  duty  on  Paccalan's  celebrated  New 
York  boots,  which  pinched  him  confoundedly.  Our  host  then 
said,  "  Gentlemen,  the  time  will  soon  come,  I  fear,  when  this 
will  be  brought  home  to  you  in  a  thousand  ways.  The  very 
roast  beef  you  seem  to  enjoy  to-day,  comes  in  on  a  high  tariff. 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  135 

When  we  break  up  all  connection  with  the  North,  we  must 
be  prepared  to  be  less  hospitable." 

On  my  first  Sunday  in  Savannah  I  heard  for  the  first  time 
the  prayer  for  the  President  of  the  Confederate  States.  Bishop 
Elliott  preached  an  ingenious  vindication  of  the  change  from 
the  standpoint  of  the  church  ritual,  taking  for  his  text,  "  The 
powers  that  be  are  ordained  of  God."  The  clear  duty  of  the 
Church,  he  said,  was  to  conform  to  the  existing  government — 
to  preach  the  gospel  (and  not  partisan  or  sectional  politics) 
under  the  authority  of  Him  who  said,  "  My  kingdom  is  not  of 
this  world."  In  a  talk  with  the  Bishop  after  the  service  I  said, 
"  Bishop,  I  had  expected  from  your  text  to  hear  an  exposition 
of  your  views  on  the  unfortunate  national  tendency  to  civil 
war."  He  replied  in  his  usual  urbane  but  decisive  manner, 
"  I  never  deal  with  politics  in  the  pulpit,  however  much  I  may 
be  interested  in  its  controversies.  The  church  provides  a  higher 
theme  for  the  edification  of  its  worshipers  in  the  gospel  of 
Christ.  It  was  proper  to-day  that  I  should  explain  and  justify 
to  the  congregation,  the  departure  from  our  ritual  in  the 
Prayer  for  Rulers  since  it  had  become  my  duty  to  conform  to 
the  new  Government  under  which  the  Church  now  exists." 

From  Savannah  I  sent  the  following  letter  to  the  New  York 
Express : 

"SAVANNAH,  March  i3th,   1861. 

"  Since  my  arrival  here  I  have  had  several  interesting  in 
terviews  with  the  Governor  and  other  leading  men,  and  also 
with  merchants  of  judgment,  social  position  and  Union  pro 
clivities,  many  of  them  New  England  men  or  their  descend 
ants. 

4<  I  have  also  mingled  freely  with  the  populace  of  the  city, 
with  members  of  the  State  Convention,  and  with  others  from 
the  rural  districts  of  less  social  and  political  influence ;  yet  I 
have  found  but  one  avowed  friend  of  reconstruction  of  the 
Union  on  the  old  basis.  Still  the  tone  here  is  not  nearly  as 
enthusiastic,  nor  is  the  military  spirit  nearly  as  evident  as  in 
South  Carolina.  The  right  of  secession  is  not  so  strenuously 
insisted  on  here  as  a  matter  of  political  orthodoxy,  secession 
being  justified  on  the  basis  of  incompatibility  of  sentiment. 


136  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  Colonel  Hunter,  one  of  the  oldest  and  most  respected 
merchants  here  (the  father-in-law  of  the  late  Senator  Berrien), 
informs  me  that  at  the  last  interview  he  had  with  his  old  friend, 
Daniel  Webster,  that  great  statesman,  with  almost  prophetic 
wisdom,  informed  him  that  the  days  of  the  Union  were  num 
bered,  because  slavery  was  so  repugnant  to  the  North  as  to 
provide  political  capital  for  every  ambitious  tyro  there. 

"  The  new  Confederacy  is  becoming  a  fixed  fact  in  all  the 
relations  of  every-day  life.  The  new  flag  streams  over  the 
public  buildings,  and  even  over  the  hotel  I  am  writing  in. 
Montgomery  is  freely  spoken  of  as  '  the  capital ' ;  Jefferson 
Davis  as  '  the  President.'  Yesterday  I  dined  with  the  British 
Consul,  and  met  among  other  leading  men,  the  Collector  of 
the  Port,  who  spoke  of  the  revenue  law,  and  of  his  corre 
spondence  with  the  Secretary  as  to  the  proper  construction  of 
certain  clauses.  Indeed,  one  is  astonished  to  see  how  readily 
the  changed  regime  is  conformed  to.  And  yet  Northern  pa 
pers,  and  even  the  President's  message,  entirely  ignore  the 
whole  thing.  The  new  Constitution  seems  to  give  universal 
satisfaction,  and  will  be  immediately  adopted,  without  amend 
ment.  Its  provisions  are  highly  conservative,  and  show  that 
the  revolution  is  in  the  hands  of  substantial  and  earnest  men, 
devoted  to  the  real  interests  of  their  respective  localities,  and 
not  in  the  hands  of  corrupt  office-seekers. 

"  The  State  Convention,  now  in  session  here,  is  composed 
principally  of  middle-aged  men.  Many  of  them  are  old-line 
Whigs — devoted  followers  of  Henry  Clay,  and  ardent  sup 
porters  of  the  Union — and  had  the  last  Congress  shown  the 
least  intention  of  doing  justice  to  the  South,  under  Mr.  Crit- 
tenden's  or  any  other  project  of  equality  in  the  Territories, 
Georgia  could  have  been  saved  and  the  Union  kept  intact  by 
their  influence  and  votes ;  for  the  number  and  influence  of 
the  secessionists  per  se  were  small  and  unimportant.  But 
Union  men  looked  in  vain  to  the  Legislature  of  New  York 
and  the  Congress  at  Washington ;  they  lost  all  hope,  and  finally 
yielded — many  of  them,  under  their  disappointment,  becoming 
more  ardent  than  the  Secession  leaders. 


SOUTHERN    MISSION  137 

"  In  Augusta  I  found  a  large  class  of  outspoken  Union  men. 
My  friends  of  both  parties  there  gave  me  a  dinner,  during 
which  the  secession  issue  was  fully  canvassed  with  the  most 
perfect  good  humor  and  I  was  good-naturedly  taxed  with  for 
getting  my  allegiance  to  the  South  and  disappointing  my 
friends  because,  as  they  put  it,  I  had  married  a  Northern 
wife." 

From  Montgomery,  Alabama,  I  wrote  to  the  New  York 
Journal  of  Commerce  as  follows: 

"  EXCHANGE  HOTEL. 
"  MONTGOMERY,  ALA.,  March  27,  1861. 

"  I  have  visited  all  the  principal  cities  of  Georgia — Savannah, 
Augusta,  Columbus  and  Macon.  The  usual  hospitality  con 
tinues  to  be  extended  to  strangers,  even  of  the  North,  unless 
they  allow  their  sympathies  for  the  slave,  and  their  offensive 
puritanical  sentiments  to  overcome  that  sense  of  propriety 
which  should  always  mark  intercourse  between  gentlemen. 
Union  sentiment  prevailed  in  the  interior  cities  of  Georgia, 
till  after  the  vote  of  the  Convention  was  cast  in  favor  oi 
secession. 

'  The  Union,  or  Co-operation  party,  as  they  called  them 
selves,  had  perhaps  a  small  majority,  when  the  Convention  met. 
The  secession  party  prevailed,  because  of  the  attitude  of  the  Na 
tional  Government  towards  South  Carolina  and  because  of 
the  Republican  press,  which  derided  the  secession  movement 
as  a  mere  party  trick  to  deprive  Republicans  of  the  fruits  of 
their  victory.  Republican  papers  in  many  cases  said  that  the 
Southern  States  could  not  be  kicked  out  of  the  Union,  and 
that  if  they  should  dare  to  go  out,  the  North  would  whip 
them  back.  It  is  an  instructive  fact  in  this  connection,  that 
volunteers  for  the  army  and  contributions  for  the  State  of 
Georgia,  are  quite  as  largely  furnished  by  the  conservative 
men  who  voted  against  secession,  as  by  the  most  ardent  seces 
sionists.  And  now  there  does  not  seem  to  be  the  least  differ 
ence  of  opinion  as  to  the  future. 


138  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  I  find  the  sentiment  in  Alabama,  as  expressed  in  this  city, 
in  perfect  accord  with  that  of  Georgia  and  Carolina.  The 
public  is  now  devoted  entirely  to  perfecting  the  new  Govern 
ment,  and  preparing  the  defense,  yet  hoping  for  peace.  An 
old  and  efficient  Union  statesman  said  to  me  yesterday  that 
he  had  exhausted  his  influence  without  effect  in  favor  of 
co-operation.  But  now  that  the  new  Government  was  estab 
lished  on  so  firm  a  basis  of  equality  and  conservatism,  and  that 
Puritan  influence  so  persistently  controlled  the  Northern  senti 
ment  with  regard  to  Southern  equality  and  rights  of  property, 
he,  in  common  with  all  his  party,  would  oppose  any  attempt 
to  re-construct  the  old  Union.  He  saw  no  hope,  he  added, 
of  a  reunion  of  destinies  except  by  the  conservative  States 
of  the  North  (barring  the  New  England  States),  joining  the 
Confederate  States.  With  New  England,  Southerners  desire 
to  have  nothing  more  to  do  politically.  It  is  very  singular  that 
men  of  New  England  origin  who  have  nobly  fought  for  the 
Union  in  the  late  struggle  here  are,  if  possible,  even  more 
emphatic  against  New  England. 

"  It  will  be  grateful  to  you  to  hear  that  the  city  of  New 
York  is  always  spoken  of  with  a  degree  of  affection  in  this 
connection.  Our  old  State,  with  all  its  Republican  sins  and 
its  corrupt  legislation,  is  regarded  with  respect,  in  considera 
tion  of  our  uniform  defense  of  constitutional  rights  when 
the  old  Democracy  was  pure.  Those  patriotic  Republicans  of 
our  city,  whose  efforts  are  directed  to  prevent  bloodshed  and 
civil  war,  and,  who,  rising  above  party  trammels,  propose  to 
restore  peace  and  a  return  of  commercial  relations  with  our 
brethren  of  the  South,  are  doing  more  towards  an  ultimate 
reunion  than  all  the  armies  which  could  be  raised  to  coerce  a 
people  determined  to  maintain  themselves  at  all  hazard. 

"  I  love  the  Union,  even  the  part  which  will  be  left,  if  it 
is  doomed  to  rupture;  and  given  a  peaceable  settlement  writh 
the  new  Confederacy,  I  hope  that  a  common  origin,  language 
and  destiny  will  yet  re-unite  a  people  whose  greatness  would 
be  destroyed  by  fraternal  strife." 


CHAPTER  VI 

THE    MONTGOMERY    ADDRESS 

IN  Montgomery,  which  was  the  seat  of  the  newly  organized 
Confederate  Government,  I  was  introduced  personally  to  Jef 
ferson  Davis,  the  President  of  the  Confederacy,  by  my  friend 
Mr.  Memminger,  who  had  just  been  appointed  Secretary  of 
the  Confederate  Treasury.  When  I  had  presented  numerous 
letters  of  introduction  from  distinguished  mutual  friends  in 
Washington,  Charleston,  and  Savannah,  the  President  inquired 
after  many  of  his  Northern  friends  and  especially  after  those 
who  had  signed  the  "  Address  "  of  the  Pine  Street  meeting 
and  those  who  were  members  of  the  Peace  Congress  assembled 
at  Washington.  He  then  expressed  his  readiness  for  the 
official  interview.  After  reading  the  "  Appeal  to  the  South  " 
of  the  Pine  Street  meeting,  which  was  well  received  by  Mr. 
Davis  and  handsomely  applauded  by  the  audience,  I  delivered 
the  following  address : 

"  MR.  PRESIDENT  : — The  fraternal  appeal  which  I  have  had 
the  honor  of  reading  to  you,  so  fully  expresses  the  sympathy  of 
several  hundred  of  your  fellow  citizens  in  the  State  and  in 
the  city  of  New  York  as  to  leave  for  me  only  a  friendly 
remonstrance,  from  a  Southerner's  standpoint,  against  the 
theory  and  the  practice  of  secession.  My  advocacy  of  Southern 
rights  in  the  political  struggles  at  the  North  for  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century,  my  intimate  relations  with  Southern  enterprises 
and  my  personal  interests  in  South  Carolina,  as  a  property 
owner,  combine  to  arouse  in  me  a  deep  concern  regarding 
everything  that  tends  either  to  unsettle  the  right  of  property 
in  slaves  or  to  jeopardize  the  peace,  possessions  and  industry 
of  the  South. 


140  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  It  is  with  profound  regret,  Mr.  President,  that  I  find  my 
self  compelled  to  differ  with  you  and  with  my  distinguished 
friend  at  my  side,  the  Honorable  Mr.  Memminger,  your  able 
Secretary  of  the  Confederate  Treasury,  with  regard  to  the 
scope,  the  significance,  and  the  stability  of  the  Union  of  the 
States. 

"  It  is  well  known  that  the  '  Articles  of  Confederation  '  (the 
original  compact  between  the  States)  was  so  defective  that  some 
of  the  States  refused  to  contribute  their  quota  to  the  national 
revenue  and  a  Convention  of  the  States  to  confer  upon  it 
greater  power  became  necessary.  This  Convention,  finding 
it  quite  impracticable  to  so  amend  the  Articles  of  Confedera 
tion  as  to  make  them  a  proper  basis  for  a  national  government, 
devised  the  present  national  Constitution.  This  document, 
which  is  a  miracle  of  wisdom  and  unsurpassed  by  any  organic 
law  in  the  world,  is  a  compromise  by  which,  through  powers 
conceded  by  all  the  States  acting  in  unison,  the  central  gov 
ernment  possesses  national  sovereignty,  while,  under  the  rights 
which  all  the  States  acting  in  unison,  reserved  to  themselves, 
local  self-government  is  assured.  Thus  is  realized  a  '  per 
petual  union  of  indestructible  States,' — a  distribution  and  limi 
tation  of  power  as  unique  as  it  is  just  and  practical.  The 
legislation  of  each  State  is  absolute,  except  when  it  conflicts 
with  the  powers  conceded  to  the  central  government;  and 
the  final  interpretation  of  both  the  State  laws  and  the  acts 
of  the  central  government  rests  with  a  high  judicial  tribunal, 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  Union, — an  umpire  whose  capacity 
and  integrity  have  never  been  impugned.  The  definition  in  the 
Constitution  of  the  functions  of  the  Supreme  Court  is  com 
prehensive  and  explicit,  and  seems  to  have  anticipated  every 
exigency  likely  to  arise.  Let  me  quote  a  sentence  which  per 
tains  to  the  present  controversy:  'The  jurisdiction  of  the 
national  judiciary  shall  extend  to  the  cases  which  regulate  the 
collection  of  the  national  revenue,  and  questions  which  involve 
the  national  peace  and  safety.'  By  virtue  of  this  sentence, 
the  Supreme  Court  became  a  bar,  sixty  years  ago,  to  Nulli 
fication  when  that  heresy  menaced  the  collection  of  our  na- 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  141 

tional  revenue ;  and,  by  virtue  of  this  same  sentence,  it  stands 
ready  to-day  to  offer  a  potent  and  peaceful  remedy  for  sec 
tional  estrangement  and  secession. 

"  It  is  difficult,  Mr.  President,  with  consistency,  to  follow 
closely  the  lead  of  the  sectional  doctrinaires  of  any  age  or  party. 
Probably  there  are  now  no  Hartford  secessionists  in  New 
England,  threatening,  as  did  the  secessionists  of  1815,  to  over 
throw  the  power  of  our  Government.  Should  the  present  un 
fortunate  sectional  controversy  culminate  in  civil  war,  the  sons 
of  these  very  New  England  secessionists  will  be  the  first,  per 
haps,  to  enlist  to  suppress  a  secession  movement  in  the  South. 

"  The  tariff  of  1816,  the  first  to  embody  the  doctrine  of  pro 
tection,  was  introduced  into  Congress,  carried  through  and 
established,  under  the  lead  of  South  Carolina.  Among  its 
most  earnest  supporters,  if  not  projectors,  was  John  C.  Calhoun, 
while  its  chief  opponents  were  New  England  men  led  by  Daniel 
Webster.  These  great  doctrinaires  of  their  respective  sections, 
subsequently  changed  sides  on  the  tariff  to  meet  the  changed 
conditions  and  pursuits  of  their  respective  communities,  Cal 
houn  becoming  an  advocate  of  free  trade  and  Webster  of  pro 
tection.  Indeed,  admonished  by  these  changes  of  sectional 
feeling  and  policy,  I  believe  the  time  may  come  when  the 
present  Confederates  of  the  South  will  be  battling  for  the 
Union  against  the  folly  of  Northern  secession. 

"  State  Rights  is  practically  the  true  and  effective  reserved 
power  which  was  guaranteed  by  the  people  in  convention  to 
each  State  for  protection  against  centralization,  and  is  an 
essential  element  of  a  federative  national  union.  State  Rights 
is  a  power  in  the  Union,  but  has  no  title  or  guarantee,  either 
at  home  or  abroad,  out  of  the  Union.  Fealty  to  the  national 
government  and  to  its  conceded  rights  under  the  Constitu 
tion,  is  fealty  to  State  Rights.  Every  citizen,  therefore,  who 
swears  to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  swears 
also  to  support  State  Rights  under  it.  The  disregard  of  these 
mutual  obligations  by  sectional  Abolitionism  at  the  North  or 
by  sectional  Secessionist™  at  the  South  are  equally  open  to 
the  charge  of  disloyalty  to  the  federal  or  State  government 


142   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

and  if  manifested  in  overt  acts  are  equally  subject  to  punish 
ment. 

:'  The  terms  '  State  sovereignty/  and  '  secession '  do  not 
appear  as  titles  in  the  original  Articles  of  Confederation  or 
the  subsequent  Constitution.  The  use  of  the  popular  term 
*  sovereign  States  '  conferred  no  power  on  the  States  beyond 
the  rights  which  were  guaranteed  by  the  compact  in  and  not 
out  of  the  Union ;  not  unlike,  perhaps,  certain  powers  which 
they  had  enjoyed  under  their  colonial  charters,  from  the  sov 
ereign  of  Great  Britain.  It  is  true  that  some  of  the  States  de 
clined,  for  periods  more  or  less  brief,  to  accept  the  new 
Constitution ;  but  this  was  merely  a  struggle  for  certain  modi 
fications  which  were  not  conceded,  and  not  a  claim  for  sov 
ereignty  or  for  the  relaxation  of  the  '  perpetual  union  '  clause. 
In  no  case  has  any  State  (save  Texas,  for  a  short  period,  be 
tween  its  separation  from  Mexico  and  its  union  with  the 
United  States),  ever  exercised  or  claimed  to  exercise  any 
sovereignty,  save  that  local  self-government  which  was  re 
served  to  it  by  the  Constitution.  Even  if  our  Union  had  been 
a  union  of  sovereign  States,  it  is  quite  absurd  to  hold  that 
any  State  would  have  surrendered  its  sovereignty  for  the 
uncertain  tenure  of  a  mere  protective  Union,  for  a  voluntary 
compact  which  might  be  severed  at  the  pleasure  of  any  one 
or  more  of  the  contracting  parties,  who  might  form  an  alli 
ance  with  some  foreign  country, — even  with  Great  Britain. 

"  A  great  Southern  orator  and  patriot,  Patrick  Henry  of  Vir 
ginia,  who  was  not  quite  in  accord  with  the  Constitution  while 
it  was  before  Virginia  for  ratification,  affirmed  that  it  is  demon 
stratively  clear  that  the  Constitution  creates  a  consolidated 
government.  '  The  language,'  he  said,  '  is,  we,  the  people 
instead  of  we,  the  States.  It  must,  therefore,  be  one  great 
consolidated  government  of  the  people  of  all  the  States/ 

"  Let  me  in  this  connection,  Mr.  President,  quote  the  opinion 
of  a  celebrated  Southerner,  Charles  Coatesworth  Pinckney,  of 
my  own  Palmetto  State,  a  prominent  soldier  and  statesman 
of  the  Revolution,  and  the  trusted  friend  of  Washington.  He 
writes :  '  Separate  independence  and  individual  sovereignty 


THE    MONTGOMERY    ADDRESS  143 

of  the  several  States  were  never  thought  of  by  the  enlightened 
band  of  patriots  who  framed  the  Declaration  of  Independence. 
The  several  States  are  not  even  mentioned  by  name  in  any 
part  of  it,  as  if  it  was  intended  to  impress  this  maxim  on 
America,  that  our  freedom  and  independence  arose  from  our 
Union,  and  that  without  it  we  could  neither  be  free  nor 
independent.  Let  us  then  consider  all  attempts  to  weaken 
this  Union  by  maintaining  that  each  State  is  separately  and 
individually  independent  as  a  species  of  political  heresy,  which 
may  never  benefit  us  and  may  bring  on  us  the  most  serious 
distress.' 

"  I  am  aware  that  secession  derives  one  of  its  chief  argu 
ments  for  disunion,  from  language  used  in  the  ratification  of 
the  Federal  Constitution,  by  the  State  of  Virginia,  as  follows : 
'  That  the  power  granted  under  the  Constitution,  being  derived 
from  the  people  of  the  United  States  may  be  resumed  by  them 
whensoever  the  same  shall  be  perverted  to  their  injury  or  op 
pression.'  This  language  refers  clearly  and  expressly  to  the 
people  of  the  United  States,  and  not  to  the  people  of  Virginia. 
The  present  Constitution  which  was  designed  to  form,  (using 
its  own  language),  'a  perpetual  Union'  emphasized  further 
the  element  of  permanence  by  declaring  its  object  to  be,  '  To 
form  a  more  perfect  union  and  to  secure  the  blessings  of  lib 
erty  to  ourselves  and  our  posterity  forever.'  But  even  if  the 
language  of  Virginia  be  conceded  to  mean  what  the  Secession 
ists  make  it  mean  (a  concession  belied  by  all  our  judicial  de 
cisions),  even  then  secession  cannot  be  justified,  because  it 
has  not  been  shown,  and  cannot  be  shown,  that  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States  has  been  perverted  to  the  injury 
or  oppression  of  the  seceding  States,  or  any  citizen  thereof. 

"  In  this  connection  let  me  quote  the  highest  judicial  author 
ity  in  our  country.  Chief  Justice  Marshall  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  a  native  Virginian,  in  adjudicat 
ing  a  Southern  question  which  involved  the  constitutionality 
of  secession,  said :  *  The  people  made  the  Constitution  and 
the  people  can  unmake  it.  It  is  the  creature  of  their  will. 
But  this  supreme  and  irresistible  power  to  make  or  unmake, 


144  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

resides  in  the  whole  body  of  the  people,  and  not  in  any  sub 
division  of  them.  The  attempt  of  any  of  the  parts  to  exercise 
this  usurpation,  ought  to  be  repelled  by  those  to  whom  the 
people  have  delegated  their  power  of  repelling  it.'  And  an 
other  great  Southerner,  Howell  Cobb  of  Georgia,  a  distin 
guished  Senator  and  Cabinet  Officer,  when  asked  ten  years 
ago  to  concede  the  right  of  a  State  to  secede  from  the  Union, 
with  or  without  cause,  at  its  pleasure,  asserted  that '  the  framers 
of  the  Constitution  did  that  which  was  never  done  before  by 
any  other  people  possessed  of  their  good  sense  and  intelli 
gence'  if  they  provided  '  in  the  very  organization  of  the  gov 
ernment  for  its  dissolution.  ...  I  have  no  hesitancy  in  declar 
ing,'  he  said,  '  that  the  convictions  of  my  own  judgment  are 
well  settled,  that  no  such  principle  was  contemplated  in  the 
adoption  of  our  Constitution.' 

"  A  great  deal  has  been  inferred  from  the  Resolutions  of 
Kentucky  and  Virginia  in  1798.  It  is  well  known  that  they 
were  only  advanced  for  party  purposes,  and  were,  like  the 
secession  resolutions  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  resolutions 
of  menace  to  the  Union  which  fulfilled  their  party  purpose  and 
largely  influenced  the  election,  but  were  disregarded  by  the 
great  body  of  the  people  of  all  parties. 

"  The  answer  to  the  exaggerated  claims  made  for  these 
manifestos  is  at  hand.  Mr.  Jefferson,  said  to  be  one  of  the 
promoters  of  the  agitation  which  resulted  in  the  Virginia 
Resolutions,  was  subsequently  elected  President  of  the  United 
States ;  and  his  administration  is  noted  for  its  vigorous  main 
tenance  of  federal  powers.  Mr.  Madison,  who,  it  is  said, 
drafted  the  Resolutions,  not  only  refused  to  admit  that  the 
secession  powers  claimed  for  State  sovereignty  were  lawful, 
but  declared  that  the  remedy  pointed  at  by  his  Resolutions, 
was  intended  as  an  appeal  for  a  Convention  of  the  States  against 
unconstitutional  laws,  and  nothing  more. 

"  Mr.  Ritchie,  the  celebrated  State  Rights  editor  of  the  Rich 
mond  Enquirer,  who  really  gave  law  half  a  century  ago  to 
the  State  Rights  Democracy  of  Virginia,  if  not  of  the  Union, 
expressed  his  view  of  this  question  in  1814  against  the  seces- 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  145 

sion  doctrines  of  the  Hartford  Convention,  as  follows :  '  No 
association  of  men,  no  State  or  set  of  States,  has  a  right  to 
withdraw  from  the  Union  of  their  own  accord.  The  same 
power  that  knit  us  together,  can  alone  unknit.  The  same  for 
mality  that  forged  the  links  of  the  Union  is  necessary  to 
dissolve  it.  The  majority  of  the  States  which  formed  the 
Union  must  consent  to  their  withdrawal.  There  is  no  power 
in  any  one  of  the  States  to  substitute  secession  as  the  medium 
of  redress  for  actual  or  fancied  grievances,  in  place  of  the 
legal  and  moral  remedies  supplied  by  the  organic  law  of  the 
country.  The  enlightened  founders  of  this  Great  Republic 
had  no  idea,  and  their  legislative  action  has  given  no  color, 
implied  or  direct,  that  a  perpetual  Union,  which  they  thought 
and  claimed  to  originate  should  be  menaced  by  the  dis-union 
doctrine  of  secession/ 

"  Mr.  Jefferson,  in  the  Virginia  Convention  of  1788  said, 
'  In  the  event  of  serious  differences  between  the  Federal  Gov 
ernment  and  a  State  or  States  which  can  be  neither  avoided 
nor  compromised,  a  Convention  of  all  the  States  must  be 
called  to  ascribe  the  doubtful  powers  to  that  department  which 
they  may  think  best/ 

"  Calhoun  opposed  the  doctrine  of  secession  because,  to  use 
his  own  terse  words,  '  It  led  to  dis-union  and  afforded  no  peace 
ful  remedy  against  unconstitutional  laws/  His  remedy  for 
violations  of  the  constitutional  rights  of  the  South,  was  an 
appeal,  should  the  Supreme  Court  fail  to  give  satisfaction,  to 
a  Convention  of  the  people  of  the  States ;  the  effectual  and 
only  practical  tribunal  recognized  by  the  Constitution  as  para 
mount  in  such  a  controversy.  It  is  true  that  an  attempt  has 
been  made  to  show  that  his  Nullification  doctrine  logically 
justified  secession;  but,  Mr.  President,  you  will  recall  the 
words  of  Edmund  Burke  to  his  parliamentary  constituents: 
'  No  one  has  a  right/  said  Burke,  '  to  charge  me  with  holding 
opinions,  on  the  ground  of  logic,  which  I  have  specially  dis 
claimed/ 

"  Indeed,  the  term  Nullification  was  never  used  by  Mr. 
Calhoun.  It  was  a  term  adopted  by  Mr.  Jefferson.  In  a 


146  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

letter  written  by  Mr.  Calhoun  to  a  friend  on  this  subject,  he 
remarks,  '  Nullification  is  not  my  word.  I  never  use  it.  I 
always  say  State  interposition.  My  purpose  is  a  suspensive 
veto  to  compel  the  installing  of  the  highest  tribunal  provided 
by  the  Constitution,  to  decide  on  the  point  in  dispute.  I  do 
not  wish  to  destroy  the  Union.  I  only  wish  to  make  it  honest. 

The   Union   is   too   strong  to  break If   a   convention 

of  the  States  were  called  and  it  should  decide  that  the  protec 
tive  policy  is  constitutional,  what  then?  Then  give  it  up.' 

"  Surely  nothing  can  be  clearer  than  Mr.  Calhoun's  express 
objections  to  Secession  on  every  occasion  when  the  doctrine 
came  before  him.  In  his  celebrated  letter  of  advice  to  the 
Legislature  of  South  Carolina,  warning  the  State  against  Seces 
sion,  he  says,  that  the  reserved  rights  of  the  State  were  not 
conferred  to  enable  it  to  resume  delegated  powers  at  will,  but 
to  prevent  the  reserved  powers  of  the  State  from  being  assumed 
by  the  National  Government.  He  further  advises,  in  case  of 
an  infringement  of  State  rights :  '  The  States  ought  to  be 
convened  in  a  general  convention,  the  most  august  assembly 
representing  the  united  sovereignty  of  the  confederate  States 
and  having  power  and  authority  to  correct  every  error  and 
to  repair  every  depredation  or  injury,  whether  caused  by  time 
or  accident  or  the  conflicting  movements  of  the  bodies  which 
compose  the  system.  With  institutions  every  way  so  fortu 
nately  possessed,  so  well  calculated  to  prevent  discord  and  so 
admirably  to  correct  them  when  they  cannot  be  prevented,  he, 
who  would  prescribe  for  political  diseases,  disunion  on  the 
one  side  or  coercion  of  a  State  on  the  other,  would  deserve, 
and  will  receive,  the  execration  of  this  and  all  future  genera 
tions.  There  is  provided  a  power  over  the  Constitution  itself 
vested  in  three-fourths  of  the  States,  which  Congress  has  the 
authority  to  invoke,  and  which  may  terminate  all  controversies 
in  reference  to  all  subjects — granting  or  withholding  the  right 
in  the  contest.  Its  authority  is  acknowledged  by  all,  and  to 
deny  or  resist  it  would  be,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  a  violation 
of  the  Constitutional  compact  and  a  dissolution  of  a  political 
association,  as  far  as  it  is  concerned.  This  is  the  ultimate 


THE    MONTGOMERY    ADDRESS  147 

and  highest  power,  and  the  basis  on  which  the  whole  system 
rests.' 

"  These,  Mr.  President,  are  the  sentiments  of  the  wisest  and 
most  patriotic  State  Rights  statesman  which  the  South  or 
any  section  of  the  country  has  produced.  I  recall  them  to  your 
memory  and  I  commend  them  to  you  and  to  all  thoughtful 
statesmen  who  are  now  called  on  to  determine  the  destinies  of 
the  South. 

"  No  constitutional  government  but  our  own  has  been  so 
thoroughly  furnished  with  ample  remedial  measures  against 
legislative  encroachments  on  personal  rights  or  on  State  rights. 
The  citizen,  as  well  as  the  State,  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  has  ample  means  of  redress;  and,  as  a 
still  farther  protection  to  the  reserved  rights  and  institutions 
of  the  State,  when  the  redress  has  not  or  cannot  be  obtained 
in  the  Federal  Supreme  Court,  an  appeal  is  open,  as  Mr.  Cal- 
houn  remarks,  to  a  Convention  of  the  people  of  all  the  States — 
the  supreme  authority  in  the  Union  because  the  very  Creator 
of  the  Union.  This  offers  the  highest  court  of  arbitration  for 
the  revision  of  any  fancied  or  real  encroachments  on  State 
Rights. 

"  Now,  Sir,  it  is  beyond  dispute  that  both  of  these  peaceful 
remedies  (appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  or  to  a  Convention 
of  the  people  of  the  States),  would  be  overwhelmingly  favor 
able  to  Southern  rights  in  any  case  that  might  be  brought  up. 
The  Dred  Scott  Decree,  recently  rendered  by  the  Supreme 
Court  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  the  slaveholder,  in  the  face 
of  the  most  energetic  effort  to  the  contrary,  is  fully  seconded 
by  every  expression  of  the  majority  of  the  States,  North  as 
well  as  South ;  and  this  is  equally  true  of  every  question  of 
Southern  rights  that  is  raised.  Only  recently,  as  you  well 
know,  John  Brown  was  convicted  and  hanged  for  criminally 
invading  your  territory. 

"  In  view  of  the  protection  afforded  by  the  Union  to  the 
South,  and  of  the  advantages  which  the  Union  has  conferred 
on  the  South,  I  am  constrained  to  ask  in  the  language  of  Mr. 
Calhoun :  '  Are  you  ready  to  destroy  the  existing  national 


148  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

relations,  which  would  be  to  destroy  the  property  of  the 
Southern  States,  and  to  place  two  races  in  a  state  of  con 
flict,  which  must  end  in  the  expulsion  or  extermination  of  one 
or  the  other  ?  ' 

"  Mr.  President,  I  am  a  pro-slavery  man.  I  accept  the  in 
herited  institution  of  slavery  as  I  do  the  other  conditions  with 
which  God  in  His  providence  has  surrounded  me.  I  can  see 
its  defects  and  regret  them  as  fully  as  any  emancipationist. 
Every  substance  casts  a  shadow.  But  I  can  also  see  what 
the  sectional  agitators  of  the  North  seem  not  to  see,  that  the 
slavery  of  the  African  race,  as  inherited  by  the  South,  has 
produced  a  social  refinement  and  a  personal  manhood  and 
integrity  which  are  everywhere  in  evidence — in  public  and 
official  as  well  as  in  private  life.  Whatever  may  come  out  of 
this  reckless  attempt  to  rupture  the  Union  by  civil  war,  slavery 
is  doomed;  and  with  it  the  peculiar  refinement  which  has 
grown  up  and  flourished  under  it,  just  as  the  refinement  of 
Athens  passed  away  when  Athens  came  into  armed  conflict 
with  the  greater  power  of  Rome. 

"  Sir,  there  is  in  New  York,  Pennsylvania  and  the  border 
States,  a  band  of  cool,  patriotic  men,  who  stand  openly  and 
firmly  pledged  to  maintain  the  Constitutional  rights  and  in 
stitutions  of  the  South  as  well  as  the  sovereignty  and  perpetu 
ity  of  the  government  of  this  Union.  To  this  band  belong  the 
signers  of  the  'Appeal  to  the  South'  (just  read  to  you),  who 
represent  vastly  greater  numbers  and  power  than  the  actual 
secession  advocates  of  the  whole  South.  Furthermore,  such 
men  are  to  be  found  in  all  the  Northern  States,  not  even  ex 
cepting  those  of  New  England.  Shall  these  noble-hearted  men 
of  both  parties,  who  are  loyal  (in  spite  of  their  prejudice 
against  slavery)  to  the  pledges  of  the  Constitution  and  stand 
ready  to  repair  the  wrongs  inflicted  or  to  be  inflicted  by  the 
fanatical  minority  in  their  midst,  be  made  your  enemies  by  an 
untimely,  unjustifiable  and  ungrateful  attempt  at  dis-union? 
Pardon  my  plainness,  Mr.  President,  but  this  is  a  time  for 
candor  among  Southern  men.  Those  of  us  who  have  material 
interests  and  affections  at  stake  cannot  contemplate  unmoved 


THE    MONTGOMERY    ADDRESS  149 

the  possibility  of  an  unequal  contest  which  will  imperil  the 
lives,  the  peace  and  the  prosperity  of  the  South. 

"  The  South,  in  my  judgment,  because  of  its  peculiar  in 
stitution,  slavery,  is  more  vitally  concerned  in  the  perpetuity 
of  the  Union  than  any  other  section  of  the  country.  We  of 
the  South  must  not  disguise  from  ourselves  the  fact  that  slavery 
in  this  age,  with  or  without  reason,  has  no  support  in  the 
civilized  world,  except  that  accorded  it  here  by  the  Constitu 
tion  of  the  United  States.  Slavery  is  only  maintained  by  the 
power  and  the  good  faith  of  the  very  government  which  Seces 
sion  proposes  to  rupture  on  the  feeble  and  baseless  pretext 
of  an  anticipated  hostility. 

"  In  proof  of  the  present  good  faith  of  the  government  to 
wards  the  slaveholder,  let  me  quote  a  paragraph  from  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  Inaugural,  an  utterance  which  ought  to  quiet 
the  fears  of  the  most  nervous  slaveholder,  and  give  confidence 
to  every  Union  heart,  coming  as  it  does  not  only  from  a 
triumphant  party  leader,  but  also,  from  one  who  is  a  respecter 
of  the  Constitution  and  the  rights  of  the  States  under  it.  '  I 
have  no  purpose,'  says  the  President,  '  directly  or  indirectly, 
to  interfere  with  the  institution  of  slavery  in  the  States  where 
it  exists.  I  believe  I  have  no  lawful  right  to  do  so,  and  I 
have  no  inclination  to  do  so.  Those  who  nominated  and  elected 
me,  did  so  with  the  full  knowledge  that  I  had  made  this  and 
similar  declarations,  and  had  never  recanted  them;  and  more 
than  this,  they  placed  in  the  platform  for  my  acceptance  and 
as  a  law  to  themselves  and  me,  the  clear  and  emphatic  reso 
lution  which  I  now  read. 

"  Resolved,  That  the  maintenance  inviolate  of  the  rights  of 
each  State  to  order  and  control  its  own  domestic  institutions 
according  to  its  own  judgment  exclusively,  is  essential  to  that 
balance  of  power  on  which  the  perfection  and  endurance  of  our 
political  fabric  depends.  And  we  denounce  the  lawless  inva 
sion  by  an  armed  force  of  the  soil  of  any  State  or  Territory, 
no  matter  on  what  pretext,  as  among  the  gravest  of  crimes." 

"  '  I  add,  too,  that  all  the  protection  that,  consistently  with 
the  Constitution  and  laws,  can  be  given,  will  be  cheerfully 


150  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

given  to  all  the  States  when  lawfully  demanded,  for  whatever 
cause,  as  cheerfully  to  one  section  as  to  another.' 

"  Now,  Mr.  President,  can  you  devise  a  more  explicit  guar 
antee  of  Southern  rights  than  this  declaration  of  the  Republican 
President  thus  pledged  by  his  oath  of  office  to  the  nation  and 
the  party  which  elected  him ;  especially  since  the  Congress 
which  shares  the  power  with  him  has  a  decided  Democratic 
majority  to  protect  Southern  interests  in  both  houses? 

"  By  way  of  further  proof  that  slavery  is  not  endangered  by 
the  agitation  of  the  Abolitionists  of  the  North,  I  will  call  your 
attention  to  the  speech  of  Senator  Hammond,  of  South  Caro 
lina,  delivered  on  October  24th,  1858.  After  telling  his  audi 
ence  how  the  anti-slavery  sentiment  had  been  encouraged  up 
to  1833  by  the  emancipation  of  their  slaves  by  Washington  and 
Jefferson,  and  by  the  strenuous  efforts  of  such  prominent 
Southern  statesmen  as  Crawford,  Clay  and  Marshall  in  behalf 
of  the  colonization  of  the  negroes  in  Liberia  (incidents  which 
compelled  the  slave-holders  to  investigate  the  moral  basis  of 
the  institution  for  the  existence  of  which  they  had  hitherto 
apologized  as  a  heritage  from  England),  Senator  Hammond 
remarks:  'But  a  few  bold  spirits  took  the  subject  up  and, 
after  a  thorough  investigation,  found  good  reasons  for  its 
defense ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  now  to  find  a  Southern  man 
who  finds  the  system  to  be  the  slightest  burden  on  his  con 
science,  who  in  fact  does  not  regard  it  an  equal  advantage  to 
the  master  and  the  slave,  elevating  both  as  to  wealth,  strength 
and  power,  and  as  one  of  the  main  pillars  and  controlling  in 
fluences  of  modern  civilization,  and  who  is  not  now  prepared  to 
maintain  it  at  every  hazard.  Such  has  been  the  happy  result 
of  Abolition  discussion.  So  far  our  gain  in  value  and  security 
from  the  contest  has  been  immense,  savage  and  malignant  as 
it  has  been.  And  how  stands  it  now  ?  Why,  in  this  quarter  of 
a  century  our  slaves  have  doubled  in  numbers  and  each  slave 
has  doubled  in  value.' 

"  It  is  highly  interesting  to  mark  the  change  in  the  course 
of  public  sentiment  on  this  subject  of  slavery.  In  April,  1784, 
Thomas  Jefferson,  as  chairman  of  a  committee,  reported  to 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  151 

Congress  a  bill  for  the  temporary  government  of  our  Western 
Territory,  in  which  appeared  the  following  clause :  '  That  after 
the  year  1800,  there  shall  be  neither  slavery  nor  involuntary 
servitude  in  any  of  the  States  [new  States  to  be  formed]  other 
wise  than  in  punishment  for  crime.'  One  would  suppose,  Mr. 
President,  that  the  South  would  have  been  indignant  at  a 
proposition  so  utterly  opposed  to  the  interests  of  slave-holders. 
The  truth  is  that  the  territory  wras  left  open  to  slavery  by  the 
unanimous  vote  of  the  Northern  members,  while  the  members 
from  Maryland,  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  voted  in  the  negative.  Indeed,  there  was  at  that 
time  little  interest  in  the  South  in  the  perpetuation  of  slavery. 
Not  until  the  admission  of  Missouri  as  a  State  were  sectional 
lines  drawn,  and  then  the  tariff  issue  had  more  to  do  with  the 
drawing  of  the  lines  than  slavery  did. 

"  The  distinguished  Georgia  statesman,  Mr.  Stephens,  now 
Vice  President  of  the  Confederacy,  in  his  admirable  address 
to  his  constituents  on  retiring  from  public  life  in  Georgia, 
July  1859,  said: — *  I  am  not  of  the  number  of  those  who  be 
lieve  that  we  have  received  any  injury  by  slavery  agitation. 
It  is  true  we  were  not  responsible  for  it.  We  were  not  the 
aggressors.  We  acted  on  the  defensive.  We  repelled  assault, 
calumny  and  aspersion  by  argument,  by  reason  and  by  truth. 
But  so  far  from  the  institution  of  African  slavery  in  our  sec 
tion  being  weakened  or  rendered  less  secure  by  discussion, 
my  deliberate  judgment  is,  that  it  has  been  greatly  strength 
ened  and  fortified,  not  only  in  the  opinions,  convictions  and 
consciences  of  men,  but  by  the  action  of  the  government  of 
the  United  States.' 

"  In  his  eloquent  and  patriotic  reply  to  Senator  Toombs, 
November  last,  before  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  Mr.  Stephens 
said  further,  '  The  first  question  which  presents  itself  is,  shall 
the  people  of  the  South  secede  from  the  Union  in  consequence 
of  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  to  the  presidency  of  the  United 
States  ?  My  countrymen,  I  tell  you  frankly,  candidly  and  earn 
estly,  that  I  do  not  think  they  ought.  In  my  judgment,  the 
election  of  no  man  constitutionally  chosen  for  that  high  office, 


152   REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

is  sufficient  for  any  State  to  separate  from  the  Union.  It  ought 
to  stand  by  and  aid  in  supporting  the  Constitution  of  the  coun 
try.  To  make  a  point  of  resistance  to  the  government,  to  with 
draw  from  it  because  a  man  is  constitutionally  elected,  puts 
us  in  the  wrong.  We  are  pledged  to  maintain  the  Consti 
tution.  Many  of  us  have  sworn  to  support  it.  Can  we,  there 
fore,  for  the  mere  election  of  a  man  to  the  Presidency,  and 
that  too,  in  accordance  with  the  prescribed  forms  of  the  Con 
stitution,  make  a  point  of  resistance  to  the  government,  with 
out  becoming  the  breakers  of  that  sacred  instrument  ourselves  ? 
Withdrawing  ourselves  from  it,  would  we  not  be  in  the  wrong  ? 
Whatever  fate  is  to  befall  this  country,  let  it  never  be  laid  to 
the  charge  of  the  people  of  the  South,  and  especially  to  the 
people  of  Georgia,  that  we  were  untrue  to  our  national  en 
gagements  ;  let  the  fault  and  the  wrong  rest  upon  others !  If 
all  our  hopes  are  to  be  blasted,  if  the  Republic  is  to  go  down, 
let  us  be  found  till  the  last  moment  standing  on  the  deck  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  waving  over  our  heads ! 
Let  the  fanatics  of  the  North  break  the  Constitution,  if  such 
is  their  fell  purpose !  Let  the  responsibility  rest  on  them !  ' 

"  The  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln  by  a  larger  majority  than  that 
of  his  predecessor,  Mr.  Buchanan,  while  giving  him  a  popular 
as  well  as  a  legal  right  to  the  office,  is  simply  the  triumph  of 
the  Republican  Party,  as  the  election  of  Mr.  Buchanan  four 
years  ago  was  a  triumph  of  the  Democratic  Party ;  and  affords 
no  justification  for  secession  on  the  ground  that  it  is  a  menace 
to  the  institution  of  slavery.  The  fact  is,  that  the  majority 
which  elected  Mr.  Lincoln  was  chiefly  made  up  of  voters  favor 
ing  a  tariff  for  the  protection  of  Northern  manufacturers,  but 
opposed  to  even  the  agitation  of  Abolition — as  the  platform 
of  their  party  and  the  acceptance  of  their  candidate  proves, 
and  as  Mr.  Lincoln  avers  in  his  inaugural.  Indeed,  a  careful 
investigation  shows  that  the  aggregate  vote  of  the  whole  North 
did  not  contain  ten  per  cent,  of  emancipationists.  Southern 
institutions  are  rather  strengthened  than  impaired  by  this  elec 
tion  of  a  Northern  candidate  pledged  by  his  oath  of  office  as 
well  as  by  his  party  platform  to  respect  the  reserved  rights  of 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  153 

the  South.  The  States  of  the  South  are  in  full  enjoyment 
to-day  of  all  the  rights  of  the  Northern  States  and  of  certain 
special  rights  besides  which  the  Northern  States  do  not  enjoy. 

"  In  short,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  what  arguments  can  be 
adduced  to  justify  a  rupture  of  this  Union  in  behalf  of  slavery ; 
for,  while  certain  factions  in  the  Eastern  States  have  been  un 
friendly  to  slavery,  these  factions  have  been  a  small  minority 
of  the  Northern  voters,  and,  being  conscious  of  their  numerical 
weakness,  have  made  no  attempt  to  put  anti-slavery  planks  into 
any  of  their  national  party  platforms. 

"  Furthermore,  there  is  no  allegation  on  the  part  of  the  Se 
cession  leaders,  and  cannot  be  that  the  Federal  Government, 
in  any  manner  or  at  any  time,  has  displayed  any  opposition 
to  the  South  and  its  rights. 

"  For  over  sixty  years  the  South  has  practically  governed 
and  well  governed  this  country.  The  Presidency,  the  Senate, 
the  Judiciary,  the  Army,  the  Navy  and  the  Diplomatic  Corps 
have  been  practically  dominated  by  Southern  influence.  The 
Presidency  has  been  filled — with  one  or  two  exceptions — by 
Southern  men  or  men  having  the  confidence  of  the  South,  and 
the  legislative  and  judicial  powers  have  been  for  the  most  part 
well  disposed  to  the  South.  The  legislation  of  Congress  and 
the  decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court  have  been  notably  favor 
able  to  Southern  interests.  Even  when  the  South  asked  for 
more  territory  with  which  to  extend  and  protect  slavery, 
Congress  annexed,  despite  sectional  opposition,  Louisiana, 
Florida  and  Texas.  Furthermore,  I  cannot  recall  a  single 
act  of  Congress  promoting  Southern  interests  during  this  long 
period  that  has  not  been  largely  supported  by  Northern  rep 
resentatives. 

"  If  the  South  had  been  true  to  itself,  we  should  have  a  pro 
nounced  Southern  representative  in  the  White  House  to-day ; 
for  you  will  excuse  the  personality,  Mr.  President,  when  I  re 
call  the  fact  that  a  leading  New  England  Democrat,  Benjamin 
F.  Butler,  and  his  friends,  as  members  of  the  Charleston  Con 
vention,  cast  over  twenty  ballots  for  your  own  candidacy  for 
that  high  office. 


154  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  It  is  to  the  breaking  up  of  that  Convention  in  Charleston, 
that  we  may  attribute  the  defeat  of  the  Democratic  Party  and 
the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln.  The  same  Secession  leaders  from 
Alabama,  who  openly  threatened  Secession  in  the  Democratic 
Convention  at  Cincinnati  in  1856,  unless  they  should  be  per 
mitted  to  engraft  their  peculiar  views  on  the  Party  declarations, 
finding  themselves  unable  in  1860  to  dictate  a  policy  which  the 
Party  could  not  sustain  in  the  North  and  West,  (because  Con 
gress  had  no  power  to  legislate  the  institution  of  slavery  in  or 
out  of  the  Territories)  withdrew  from  the  Convention.  They 
created  thereby  a  situation  which  not  only  forced  the  disso 
lution  of  that  body,  but  caused  the  disintegration  and  defeat  of 
the  Party ;  thus  sacrificing  with  yourself  another  distinguished 
Southern  statesman,  John  C.  Breckinridge,  for  whose  election 
to  the  Presidency  I  did  my  utmost,  being,  indeed,  a  member  of 
the  New  York  State  Convention  which  so  heartily  responded 
to  his  nomination. 

"  The  great  body  of  the  leading  men  at  the  North,  while 
opposed  to  slavery  abstractly,  are  in  deep  sympathy  with  all 
that  concerns  the  prosperity  of  their  Southern  brethren  and 
their  constitutional  rights.  Of  this  attitude  the  fraternal  '  Ad 
dress  '  just  read,  is  a  striking  expression.  The  Pine  Street 
Meeting  was  not  a  mere  popular  gathering;  it  was  a  meeting 
of  distinguished  public  men  of  both  parties  who  came  together 
to  make  one  last  effort  to  avoid  civil  war,  by  giving  pledges  to 
their  Southern  brethren  of  sympathy  and  support  in  the  Union, 
and  of  the  maintenance  of  their  absolute  rights  under  the  Con 
stitution.  I  could  show  you,  Sir,  hundreds  of  similar  pledges 
in  letters  from  prominent  men  of  both  parties  in  New  England. 
It  may  appear  to  you,  as  you  have  intimated,  that  this  action 
was  prompted  by  business  motives  rather  than  by  love  of  the 
South.  In  a  measure,  Mr.  President,  this  may  be  true,  since 
all  patriotism  and  all  friendships  are  based  on  personal  interests 
more  or  less;  but  this  is  no  reason  for  discrediting  these  sen 
timents. 

"  Your  friends  of  the  North  regard  secession  as  forcing 
slavery  into  the  very  danger  which  it  assumes  to  avert.  It  pro- 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  155 

poses  to  stake  the  actual  substance  against  the  possible  shadow. 
It  is  preposterous  to  claim  that  slavery  is  in  any  present  danger. 
I  have,  I  think,  proved  (by  the  highest  Southern  authority,  for 
I  have  abstained  from  quoting  Northern  authority),  that  legis 
lation  adverse  to  slavery  is  now  quite  impossible.  The  market 
value  of  slaves  is  the  true  barometer  of  public  opinion  as  to  the 
security  of  slave  property.  At  a  late  sale  of  negroes,  which 
I  witnessed  in  Charleston,  I  noted  that  not  only  were  the  high 
est  former  market  prices  fully  maintained  in  the  face  of  this 
outcry  of  danger,  but  that  prices  had  really  advanced  as  com 
pared  with  the  average  of  twenty  years;  and  my  friend  here, 
Mr.  Memminger,  will  confirm  this.  This  is  the  best  possible 
practical  evidence  of  the  public  confidence  in  the  tenure  of 
slavery. 

"  There  is  a  school  of  honest  but  mistaken  statesmen  who 
do  not  attempt  to  justify  secession  as  a  legal  remedy,  because 
they  can  adduce  no  wrong  on  the  part  of  the  Government. 
They  love  to  quote  from  the  Declaration  of  Independence  the 
paragraph  as  to  the  right  of  a  people  to  institute  a  new  govern 
ment  at  the  pleasure  of  the  governed.  But  they  overlook  the 
important  conservative  clause  which  declares  '  That  a  decent 
respect  for  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  we  should 
declare  the  causes  which  compel  us  to  separate/  and  this  affirm 
ation  is  accompanied  by  a  list  of  twenty-seven  political  abuses 
of  the  most  despotic  character.  These,  the  Declaration  of  In 
dependence  offered  in  justification  of  their  proposed  secession 
from  Great  Britain,  in  emphatic  recognition  of  their  moral 
duty  to  the  nations  and  peoples  of  the  earth. 

"  And  just  here,  Mr.  President,  I  would,  with  all  due  respect, 
and  in  the  language  of  the  Vice  President  of  the  Confederacy, 
ask  '  What  reasons  can  you  give  to  the  nations  of  the  earth  to 
justify  secession?  They  will  be  the  calm  and  deliberate  judges 
in  this  case.  What  overt  act  can  you  name  or  point  to  on 
which  to  rest  the  plea  of  justification?  What  right  has  the 
North  assailed  ?  What  interest  of  the  South  has  been  invaded  ? 
What  justice  has  been  denied?  And  what  claim  founded  on 
justice  and  right  has  been  withheld?  '  Can  any  of  you  to-day 


156  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

name  one  Government  act  of  wrong  deliberately  and  purposely 
done  by  the  Government  at  Washington  of  which  the  South 
has  a  right  to  complain?  I  challenge  the  answer.  I  am  not 
here  as  the  advocate  of  the  North,  but  I  am  here — like  the 
great  Georgian  I  have  quoted — the  friend  and  the  firm  friend 
of  the  South,  its  institutions,  its  peace  and  its  prosperity. 

"  No  people  is  strong  enough  to  disregard  the  opinion  of  the 
civilized  world.  There  is  a  moral  sentiment  which,  sooner  or 
later,  will  always  develop  into  sympathy  or  aversion  and  which 
it  is  unwise  to  ignore  and  dangerous  to  set  at  defiance  in 
revolutionary  contests.  There  seems  to  be,  Mr.  President,  a 
growing  confidence  at  the  South  in  the  practical  value  at  this 
time  of  English  sympathy,  as  evidenced  by  the  somewhat 
blatant  endorsements  of  secession  and  declarations  of  love 
for  Southern  institutions,  by  many  English  consuls  in  our 
Southern  ports,  who,  with  their  friends  at  home,  were  ever 
ready,  formerly,  to  condemn  in  no  measured  terms  the  in 
stitution  of  slavery  as  a  blot  on  our  civilization.  Now  jealousy 
of  the  progress  of  America  may  have  excited  in  England  a 
desire  to  promote  civil  war  in  this  country ;  but  it  should  be 
borne  in  mind  that  the  English  Government  has  been  admon 
ished  by  two  contests  that  English  sympathy  with  secession 
must  be  moral  only. 

"  In  the  contest  of  the  colonies  for  independence,  the  rights 
of  a  continent  were  at  stake ;  a  continent  then  ruled  by  a  des 
potic  administration  three  thousand  miles  away  across  the 
ocean,  and  by  a  government  whose  form  was  out  of  harmony 
with  the  feelings  and  interest  of  the  colonies.  The  present 
menace  of  secession  can  surely  find  no  moral  justification  in 
the  doctrines  of  Jefferson  as  expressed  in  the  famous  Decla 
ration  of  Independence  which  was  so  carefully  guarded  in 
language  as  to  attract  the  sympathy  of  the  world  to  its  appeal 
for  justice  against  monarchical  tyranny.  Has  it  never  occurred 
to  you,  Mr.  President,  that  each  State  and  each  individual  of 
each  State,  has  a  valuable  vested  right  in  this  Union?  The 
dignity  of  citizenship  in  a  great  and  powerful  nation  is  too 
precious  a  thing  to  be  relinquished  readily.  The  idolized  flag 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  157 

of  our  country  cannot  be  deprived  of  a  single  star  of  its 
galaxy,  without  the  practical  extermination  of  the  race  which 
fought  at  Lexington,  Bunker  Hill,  Cowpens,  New  Orleans 
and  Mexico.  The  inspiration  of  that  flag  was  not  without  its 
influence  upon  your  own  gallant  conduct  while  leading  the 
troops  of  your  country  to  victory  as  the  hero  of  Buena  Vista. 
That  patriotic  Southern  anthem,  the  '  Star  Spangled  Banner,' 
which  nerved  your  courage  and  that  of  the  brave  men  with 
you  is  as  potent  to-day  for  the  defense  of  the  Union  against 
domestic  enemies  as  it  was  in  1812  when  our  Southern  poet, 
Key,  witnessed  the  triumph  of  the  flag  over  our  foreign  in 
vaders  at  Baltimore,  and  when  Southern  and  Northern  soldiers 
fought  under  its  folds  in  Mexico. 

"  Mark  my  words,  Mr.  President,  this  will  not  be  a  war 
waged  by  the  government  against  the  States  nor  against  State 
Rights,  nor,  as  alleged,  against  slavery ;  but  for  the  defense 
of  the  integrity  of  the  Union,  of  its  flag  and  of  its  govern 
ment,  against  armed  individuals  organized  for  their  destruc 
tion. 

"  Ex-President  Tyler,  commenting  in  March,  1855,  on  the 
Force  Bill  of  President  Jackson's  administration,  said : — '  In 
difference  of  opinion  that  may  and  will  spring  up  between 
the  States,  the  last  counselor  should  be  the  pride  of  power, 
and  the  last  mediator  should  be  force.  Rome  in  her  day  of 
power  claimed  to  be  mistress  of  the  world,  and  Alexander 
the  Great  wept  that  he  had  no  more  worlds  to  conquer;  and 
yet  neither  the  one  nor  the  other  looked  down  from  their 
height  of  power  upon  possessions  more  extensive  or  more  fer 
tile  than  those  which  we  enjoy.  I  mention  these  things,  not 
in  a  spirit  of  vain  boasting,  but  for  a  far  different  and  more  in 
teresting  purpose.  It  is  to  induce  a  still  deeper  impression  of 
love  and  veneration  for  our  political  institutions,  by  exhibit 
ing  our  country  as  it  was  and  is  and  will  be,  if  we  are  true 
to  the  great  trust  committed  to  our  hands.  I  will  give  no 
audience  to  those  dark  prophets  who  profess  to  foretell  a  dis 
solution  of  the  Union.  I  would  bid  them  back  to  their  gloomy 
cells  to  await  until  the  day  shall  come,  which  I  trust  will 


158  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

assuredly  come,  when  this  great  Republic  shall  have  reached 
the  fullness  of  its  glory.  I  will  not  adopt  the  belief  that  a 
people,  so  favored  by  heaven,  will  most  wickedly  and  foolishly 
throw  away  a  pearl  richer  than  all  their  tribe.  No,  when  I 
open  the  Book  of  the  Sybils,  there  is  unfolded  to  my  sight  in 
characters  bright,  resplendent  and  glorious,  and  depicting  the 
American  Confederacy  in  the  distant  future  shining  with  in 
creased  splendor,  the  paragon  of  governments,  the  exemplar 
of  the  world.  Leave  me,  for  the  remnant  of  my  days,  the 
belief  that  the  government  and  institutions  handed  down  to 
us  by  our  fathers,  are  to  be  the  rich  legacy  of  our  children  and 
our  children's  children  to  the  latest  generation.  Keep  at  a 
distance  from  me,  that  gaunt  and  horrible  form  which  is  en 
gendered  in  folly  and  nurtured  in  faction,  which  slakes  its 
thirst  in  the  tears  of  broken  hearts,  and  appeases  its  appetite 
in  the  blasted  hopes  of  mankind.'  This,  Mr.  President,  is 
the  eloquent  rendering  of  the  prophetic  fears  of  an  honored 
and  trusted  Southern  statesman,  which  strikes  a  responsive 
chord  to-day  in  the  hearts  of  thousands  of  Southern,  as  well 
as  Northern,  patriots  who  confide  in  you  and  look  to  you  in 
this  extremity  to  save  the  country  from  the  bloody  ordeal  of 
impending  civil  war. 

:c  That  grand  old  statesman,  Henry  Clay  of  Kentucky  (the 
compeer  of  Calhoun  and  Webster)  read  a  lecture  to  the 
United  States  Senate  in  1832  on  the  proposed  Nullification  of 
South  Carolina  and  its  dangers  which  is  emphatically  of  value 
as  against  Secession  in  1861. 

"  He  said : — '  Entertaining  these  deliberate  opinions,  I  would 
entreat  the  patriotic  people  of  South  Carolina  to  pause — 
solemnly  pause  and  contemplate  the  frightful  precipice  which 
lies  before  them.  To  retreat  may  be  painful  and  mortifying 
to  their  gallantry  and  pride,  but  it  is  a  retreat  into  the  Union — 
to  safety  and  to  those  brethren  with  whom  or  with  whose 
ancestors  they  or  their  ancestors  have  won  on  fields  of  glory 
imperishable  renown. 

"  '  To  advance  is  to  run  into  incurable  disgrace  and  destruc 
tion.  ...  If  there  be  any  who  want  civil  war,  who  want  to 


THE    MONTGOMERY    ADDRESS  159 

see  the  blood  of  any  portion  of  our  countrymen  spilt,  I  am 
not  one  of  them.  I  wish  to  see  a  war  of  no  kind,  but,  above 
all,  I  do  not  desire  to  see  a  civil  war.  When  war  begins, 
whether  civil  or  foreign,  no  human  sight  is  competent  to  fore 
see  when  or  how  or  where  it  is  to  terminate.  But  when  a 
civil  war  shall  be  lighted  up  in  the  bosom  of  our  land  and 
armies  are  marching  and  commanders  are  winning  their  vic 
tories  and  fleets  are  in  motion  on  our  coasts,  tell  me — if  you 
can — tell  me — if  any  human  being  can — of  its  duration.  God 
alone  knows  where  such  a  war  would  end.  In  what  a  state 
will  our  institutions  be  left?  In  what  a  state  our  liberties? 
I  want  no  war.  Above  all,  no  war  at  home.  Sir,  I  repeat  that 
I  think  South  Carolina  has  been  rash,  intemperate  and  greatly 
in  the  wrong,  but  I  do  not  want  to  disgrace  her  nor  any  other 
member  of  the  Union.  No,  I  do  not  desire  to  see  the  luster 
of  one  single  star  dimmed  of  the  glorious  confederacy  which 
constitutes  our  political  sun.  Still  less  do  I  wish  to  see  the 
Union  blotted  out  and  its  light  extinguished  forever.' 

"  It  appears  to  me,  Mr.  President,  that,  in  case  of  an  armed 
conflict,  genuine  statesmen  like  yourself  will  find  it  difficult 
in  your  cooler  moments  to  reconcile  some  of  the  features  of 
this  situation.  The  South  will  not  be  confronted  in  the  field 
by  the  Abolition  fanatics  of  the  North,  who,  with  Wendell 
Philips  at  their  head,  openly  profess  a  desire  to  divide  the 
Union  in  behalf  of  emancipation,  and  who  have  labored  for 
many  years,  by  sowing  discord  and  by  the  machinery  of  the 
*  Under  Ground  Railroad/  to  fire  the  Southern  heart  against 
the  Union.  You  have  ranged  yourself  with  your  enemies, 
Mr.  President.  These  Abolition  fanatics  will  not  meet  you 
in  battle.  Talking  is  safer  than  fighting.  Besides,  secession 
furthers  their  dis-union  plans  and  is,  in  their  view,  highly  ef 
fectual  for  emancipation.  On  the  contrary,  your  swords  wrill 
be  drawn  against  your  best  friends,  the  friends  who  for  years, 
have  disinterestedly  and  gallantly  defended  your  institutions 
and  your  good  name  against  your  political  and  sectional  ad 
versaries,  the  friends  who  love  the  Union,  the  flag  and  the 
Constitution  of  their  fathers  and  your  fathers. 


160  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

'  There  will  be  no  compromise  with  Secession  if  war  is 
forced  upon  the  North.  I  know  the  people  there  thoroughly. 
The  love  of  the  Union  is  a  deep  sentiment  with  them,  which 
will  over-ride  every  other  impulse  and  interest  when  their 
patriotism  is  aroused. 

"  Mr.  President,  you  must  not  be  deceived  by  the  indignant 
and  rather  hasty  threats  made  by  our  Northern  Democrats, 
because  of  attempted  infringements  of  Southern  rights.  The 
Democratic  Mayor  of  New  York,  Mr.  Wood,  to  whom  you 
refer  me,  is  my  valued  friend,  and  one  of  the  foremost  friends 
of  the  South.  He  is  a  man  of  great  energy  and  intense  loyalty 
to  the  Federal  Constitution  and  the  Union.  The  remark  of 
Mayor  Wood  you  quote  as  favoring  the  secession  of  the  city 
of  New  York,  is  nothing  but  a  partisan  threat,  like  Horace 
Greeley's  editorial  headed,  '  Tear  down  that  flaunting  rag/ 
Neither  of  these  political  leaders  is  prepared  to  act  or  coun 
tenance  what  his  ill-considered  and  revolutionary  words  im 
ply.  The  first  armed  demonstration  against  the  integrity  of 
the  Union  or  the  dignity  of  the  flag  will  find  these  antagonis 
tic  partisans  enrolled  in  the  same  patriotic  ranks  for  the  de 
fense  of  both. 

"  I  make  no  appeal  to  fear  in  talking  to  Southern  men  whom 
I  know  to  be  incapable  of  that  feeling.  Southern  men  are 
moved  by  the  opposite  impulse,  and  are  too  likely  to  be  rash 
in  the  presence  of  danger.  But  I  desire  to  appeal  to  their 
cooler  judgment.  It  is,  in  my  opinion,  to  be  regretted  that 
the  able  and  distinguished  statesmen  enlisted  in  the  secession 
movement  give  no  consideration  to  the  possible  (and  as  I 
think  the  inevitable)  consequences  to  Southern  life  and  prop 
erty  of  a  revolt  against  a  powerful  Government  which  is 
backed  by  an  almost  fanatical  love  of  the  flag  and  of  the 
Union. 

"  The  American  public  will  never  consent  to  recognize  with 
out  a  bloody  struggle,  fearful  to  contemplate,  a  political  or 
ganization  which  would  overthrow  the  substantial  government 
of  a  contented  and  prosperous  people.  It  is  a  grave  mis 
fortune,  that  in  this  sectional  and  political  controversy  each 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  161 

side  undervalues  the  other.  The  Anglo-Saxon  (for  or  against 
government)  in  Europe  or  America,  North  or  South,  has 
never  been  found  wanting  in  arms.  He  may  be,  at  times, 
rather  indifferent  to  military  glory,  but  in  the  long  run  he  is 
a  terrible  adversary.  The  South,  with  its  impulsiveness,  its 
gallantry  and  military  training  and  traditions  will  rush  to  the 
conflict  early  and  eagerly.  The  North,  more  given  to  industry 
and  peaceful  enterprises,  will  enter  the  field  slowly,  and  with 
less  enthusiasm.  But  in  time  the  North's  fervent  love  of  the 
Union  and  profound  reverence  for  the  flag  will  make  heroes 
of  the  most  stolid  Yankees  in  New  England. 

"  We  may  despise  Puritanism  in  politics  and  in  religion, 
but  the  Puritan  is  not  to  be  undervalued  as  an  antagonist  in 
business  or  in  warfare.  Hume,  the  English  historian,  tells 
us  that  while  '  it  [Puritanism]  is  a  sect  whose  principles  appear 
so  frivolous  and  whose  habits  so  ridiculous,  yet  the  English 
owe  to  it  the  whole  freedom  of  their  Constitution.' 

"  Mr.  President,  under  modern  Christian  civilization,  civil 
or  foreign  war  is  not  encouraged  as  a  mere  occasion  for  the 
display  of  military  gallantry  or  prowess.  In  this  age,  war 
against  a  lawfully  constituted  government  can  only  be  justi 
fied  and  enlist  the  support  of  even  the  most  prominent  advo 
cates  of  the  right  of  revolution  after  peaceful,  reformatory 
measures  have  been  tried  and  failed ;  and  even  then  such  a 
war  must  be  able  to  offer  a  reasonable  hope  of  success.  In 
the  present  case  there  is  no  grievance  which  justifies  the  re 
sort  to  such  a  desperate  course. 

"  Permit  me,  Sir,  in  closing  to  impress  you  with  my  fears. 
Many  of  the  friends  of  the  South  at  the  North,  with  whom  I 
am  intimate,  have  but  little  sympathy  with  slavery,  and  re 
gret  its  existence  in  the  country.  They  defend  it,  however, 
loyally  and  effectively  as  a  vested  right  of  the  South,  guaran 
teed  by  the  Constitution.  But  a  civil  war  threatening  the 
rupture  of  a  free  government  admitted  to  be  the  best  under  the 
sun, — a  rupture  for  the  purpose  of  founding  a  government 
based  avowedly  on  slavery, — can  hardly  hope  for  the  sympathy 
of  foreign  peoples,  even  if  success  should  be  achieved. 


162  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  Civil  war  for  the  destruction  of  the  Union  will  bring 
every  man  at  the  North,  irrespective  of  his  party  or  sec 
tional  affiliations,  to  the  support  of  the  government  and  the 
flag  of  his  country.  If  conciliation  now  fails  to  protect  the 
Union,  the  coldest  Northerner  will  lay  aside  his  profitable 
enterprises  and  will  enter  the  army  in  defense  of  the  suprem 
acy  of  the  government  and  of  its  laws.  In  this  unequal 
contest,  the  South  must  not  only  suffer  in  blood  and  treasure, 
but  the  institution  of  slavery,  as  the  underlying  cause  of  the 
war,  will,  I  fear,  fall  a  sacrifice  to  the  resentment  of  the  vic 
tors.  Many  of  us  are  derided  as  Union-savers  at  the  South, 
and  at  the  North;  but  we  are  not  disposed  to  be  diverted  in 
that  manner  from  the  duties  and  responsibilities  of  citizenship. 
We  are  not  prepared  to  welcome  that  deplorable  state  of 
affairs  which  the  prophetic  pen  of  Washington,  in  his  Fare 
well  Address,  sought  to  guard  against.  The  peculiar  adapta 
bility  of  this  Farewell  Address  to  the  present  exigency 
impels  me  to  quote  one  or  two  paragraphs  of  its  prophetic 
portions : 

'  In  contemplating  the  causes  that  may  disturb  our  Union, 
it  occurs  as  a  matter  of  serious  concern  that  any  ground  should 
have  been  furnished  for  characterizing  parties  by  geograph 
ical  discriminations,  Northern  or  Southern,  Atlantic  or  West 
ern,  whence  designing  men  may  endeavor  to  excite  a  belief 
that  there  is  a  real  difference  in  local  interests  and  views. 
.  .  .  This  government,  the  offspring  of  our  own  choice 
uninfluenced  and  unawed,  adopted  upon  full  investigation 
and  mature  deliberation,  completely  free  in  its  principles,  in 
the  distribution  of  its  powers,  uniting  security  with  energy, 
and  containing  within  itself  a  provision  for  its  own  amend 
ment,  has  a  just  claim  to  your  confidence  and  your  support. 
Respect  for  its  authority,  compliance  with  its  laws,  acquies 
cence  in  its  measures,  are  duties  enjoined  by  the  fundamental 
maxims  of  true  liberty.  The  basis  of  our  political  system  is 
the  right  of  the  people  to  make  and  to  alter  their  constitutions 
of  government ;  but  the  constitution  which  at  any  time  ex 
ists,  till  changed  by  an  explicit  and  authentic  act  of  the  whole 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  163 

people,  is  sacredly  obligatory  upon  all.  The  very  idea  of  power 
and  the  right  of  the  people  to  establish  government  presup 
poses  the  duty  of  every  individual  to  obey  the  established 
government.' 

"  Mr.  President,  let  me  speak  plainly.  Self  preservation  is 
an  inherent  and  vital  law  of  national  as  well  as  of  State  or 
individual  economy.  To  take  from  the  nation  by  secession 
one  third  of  its  domain,  one  third  of  its  possessions,  one  third 
of  its  material  and  productive  wealth  and  one  third  of  its 
power  to  defend  itself  against  foreign  aggression — thereby 
impairing  its  dignity  and  depriving  it  of  its  proud  position 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth — seems  to  me  to  be  a  dream  of 
madness.  It  will  never  be  permitted  so  long  as  there  is  a 
loyal  arm  to  defend  the  great  heritage  we  have  received  from 
our  fathers. 

"  I  am  not  prepared  to  believe,  Mr.  President,  that  a  states 
man  of  your  mature  capacity  and  unquestionable  patriotism, 
who  has  rendered  distinguished  services  to  our  country  in  the 
Cabinet,  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  Army  can  ever  be  induced 
to  sully  your  fair  fame  by  participating  in  the  fratricidal  war 
which  secession  now  proposes." 

At  the  close  of  my  remarks — to  which  the  President,  a 
portion  of  his  Cabinet  and  a  large  audience  had  listened 
patiently — the  President  came  forward  and,  shaking  me  by  the 
hand  in  the  most  cordial  manner,  invited  me  to  an  evening 
party  at  his  residence. 

While  in  Montgomery  I  sent  another  letter  to  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce,  as  follows : 

! 

"  I  have  met  the  leading  men  of  the  Confederate  Adminis 
tration  socially  as  well  as  publicly.  Most  of  them  have  a 
national  reputation  and  all  of  them  are  statesmen  of  unques 
tioned  ability  and  of  great  probity,  whose  public  and  private 
characters — secession  apart — are  above  reproach.  Indeed, 
the  cordial  reception  given  to  this  new  government  is  at 
tributable  to  the  good  repute  and  fitness  of  its  members.  They 


164  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

appear  to  have  dispelled  all  misgivings  on  the  part  of  those 
who,  at  first,  were  not  in  sympathy  with  secession. 

"  The  President  is  a  small-sized,  thoughtful-looking  gentle 
man,  neatly  dressed  in  a  full  suit  of  grey  domestic  cloth.  His 
manners  are  simple  yet  dignified,  and  his  greeting  cordial, 
but  quiet.  He  talked  with  me  informally  on  the  political  as 
pect  of  the  times  and  the  peculiar  relations  of  the  two  con 
federacies,  with  a  degree  of  openness  and  a  freedom  from 
partisan  views  which  proclaim  the  statesman.  Indeed,  he 
spoke  with  the  frankness  of  the  soldier  rather  than  in  the  con 
strained  manner  of  the  diplomatist.  While  deploring  the  pos 
sibility  of  hostilities  between  the  North  and  the  South,  and 
admitting  the  folly  of  an  appeal  to  arms  to  settle  controverted 
questions  of  government  in  this  civilized  age  and  country, 
nothing  escaped  him  reflecting  in  the  least  on  the  North, 
or  the  Administration,  or  bringing  into  notice  the  powerful 
military  organization  which  his  genius  and  popularity  as  a 
military  chieftain  were  gathering  around  him.  His  whole  tone 
during  our  interview  seemed  to  be  one  of  regret  that  the  per 
sistent  fanaticism  of  the  North  should  have  estranged  two 
sections  which  were,  in  most  respects,  congenial  to  each  other. 

"  I  have  had  interesting  interviews  with  members  of  the 
Cabinet,  whose  uprightness  and  conservative  statesmanship 
commend  them  to  persons  on  both  sides  of  the  unfortunate 
controversy.  To  their  prudence  in  seconding  the  moderation 
of  President  Davis,  we  are  indebted  for  the  existing  peaceful 
relations  of  the  two  sections.  I  am  told  on  good  authority 
that  Mr.  Toombs,  the  Secretary  of  State,  at  first  declined  the 
appointment,  because  of  modest  misgivings  regarding  his  fitness 
for  a  post  requiring  constant  watchfulness  and  self  restraint, 
while  he  was,  in  his  own  belief,  impulsive  by  habit  and  constitu 
tion.  He  was  finally  induced  to  accept,  however,  by  Mr.  Ste 
phens  and  other  friends  who  appreciated  his  administrative 
ability.  Everyone  is  surprised  to  find  this  impulsive  and  ready 
debater  now  one  of  the  most  cautious  men  of  the  Administra 
tion.  In  a  Cabinet  meeting  he  opposed  firing  on  Fort  Sumter 
as  an  unnecessary  beginning  of  war  by  the  South.  '  The  firing 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  165 

on  that  Fort/  said  Toombs,  '  will  inaugurate  a  civil  war  greater 
than  any  the  world  has  ever  seen.  You  will  wantonly  strike 
a  hornet's  nest  which  extends  from  ocean  to  ocean  and  legions, 
now  quiet,  will  swarm  out  and  sting  us  to  death.  To  put  our 
selves  in  the  wrong  will  be  fatal.' 

"  My  friend,  Mr.  Memminger,  the  able  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  is  considered  the  best  appointment  of  the  Cabinet, 
by  reason  of  his  peculiar  fitness  for  the  arduous  and  perplex 
ing  duties  of  that  position. 

"  He  is  a  thoroughly  educated  political  economist  and  finan 
cier  who  has  a  vast  fund  of  practical  knowledge  derived 
from  a  long  career  as  a  commercial  lawyer  in  Charleston,  and 
as  chairman  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  South  Carolina 
Legislature.  He  has  a  matchless  faculty  for  stating  clearly 
the  most  intricate  mathematical  problems,  an  invaluable  quality 
in  a  financial  negotiator.  He  will  make  his  mark,  I  am 
sure,  as  the  financier  of  this  new  government,  and  his  high 
personal  character  is  doing  much  for  the  popularity  of  the 
present  $5,000,000  loan  which  I  understand  will  be  greatly 
over-subscribed  at  par. 

"  It  may  be  interesting  to  you  to  know — a  fact  which  re 
flects  great  credit  on  the  social  and  political  conditions  of  the 
South — that  two  of  the  most  prominent  members  of  the  Con 
federate  administration  are  self-made  men,  orphans  brought 
up  by  charity.  Mr.  Memminger  was  educated  at  an  Asylum 
in  Charleston,  and  Mr.  Stephens  by  a  society  of  ladies  at 
Augusta. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS/' 

From  Montgomery  I  proceeded  to  Mobile,  Alabama,  in 
response  to  an  invitation  from  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  that  community,  with  which  I  had  a  large  business  connec 
tion.  The  principal  journal  of  Mobile  rebuked  editorially, 
on  my  arrival,  the  attitude  of  unfriendliness  towards  me 
which  some  of  the  extreme  secessionists  there  were  begin 
ning  to  show.  Among  other  things  it  said: 


i66  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  Whether  we  agree  with  Col.  Lathers'  opinions  or  not 
we  should  be  guilty  of  unpardonable  discourtesy  and  ingrati 
tude  to  our  friends  at  the  North  in  treating  their  messenger 
and  our  well-known  friend  with  hostility.  We  hope,  therefore, 
that  Col.  Lathers  and  his  fraternal  message  will  be  received 
with  the  same  friendly  consideration  as  marked  the  reception 
of  his  address  before  the  Executive  at  Montgomery." 

The  meeting  at  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  was  crowded 
by  the  merchants  and  leading  citizens  of  the  place.  The 
Chairman,  Mr.  Walker  (who  afterwards  ranked  high  in  the 
Confederacy),  presented  me  to  my  social  acquaintances  and 
business  correspondents  as  the  bearer  of  a  fraternal  message 
from  the  friends  of  the  South  in  the  City  and  State  of  New 
York.  In  concluding,  he  said: — "  There  can  be  no  doubt  as 
to  the  genuineness  of  the  friendship  of  Col.  Lathers  or  of  that 
of  the  Northerners  who  have  sent  him  here  in  behalf  of  the 
Union  which  they  claim  is  the  true  and  only  permanent  sup 
port  of  our  peculiar  institution,  slavery,  against  Northern 
fanaticism  or  foreign  interference.  The  right  of  free  dis 
cussion  is  not  to  be  restricted  by  any  Southern  community 
and  whosoever  comes  before  us  with  friendly  zeal  is  to  be 
listened  to  with  thoughtful  respect.  Gentlemen,  I  have  the 
pleasure  of  introducing  to  you  Colonel  Richard  Lathers  coming 
to  us  with  an  '  Address  '  which  he  will  read  to  you  and  sup 
plement  by  a  few  timely  remarks  from  his  mercantile  stand 
point  on  the  mutual  rights  and  duties  of  American  Citizen 
ship  and  the  value  of  a  united  country  to  commerce." 

I  then  read  the  New  York  "  Address  "  to  an  attentive  audi 
ence  and  had  just  begun  my  personal  remarks  when  suddenly 
a  great  movement  occured.  News  had  been  received  that  Fort 
Sumter  had  been  fired  upon  and  the  War  of  Secession  thereby 
opened.  Since  this  rendered  further  discourse  useless,  the 
meeting  was  at  once  closed  with  a  vote  of  thanks  to  the 
speaker. 

After  enjoying  for  a  day  or  two  the  hospitality  of  my  friends 
in  Mobile,  I  visited  New  Orleans  in  response  to  an  invitation 


THE    MONTGOMERY   ADDRESS  167 

from  the  New  Orleans  Chamber  of  Commerce  to  address  that 
body  on  the  issues  of  the  day  and  their  effect  on  trade. 

While  I  was  at  breakfast  at  the  St.  Charles  Hotel,  the  card 
of  the  Mayor  of  the  city  was  sent  in  to  me.  I  hurried  to  the 
reception  room,  and,  supposing  the  Mayor  had  come  on  a 
social  call,  began  to  thank  him  for  his  early  courtesy.  He 
smiled  rather  grimly  at  this  remark,  and  replied :  "  You  will 
probably  not  appreciate  my  early  visit  so  highly  when  I  in 
form  you  that  you  must  leave  the  city  at  once  as  an  alien 
enemy  "  (a  new  coinage  of  the  times  at  the  South).  I  replied : 
"  I  have  come  here  on  a  special  invitation  to  address  your 
Chamber  of  Commerce  and  for  no  sinister  or  illegal  purpose." 
He  responded :  "  We  will  not  discuss  the  motives  or  propriety 
of  your  visit.  After  the  capture  of  Fort  Sumter,  the  first  vic 
tory  of  the  Confederate  States,  it  ought  to  occur  to  such  an 
intelligent  gentleman  as  yourself  that  the  discussions  you  re 
fer  to  are  clearly  out  of  place.  You  would  be  mobbed  should 
you  remain.  There  is  a  train  going  West  at  two  o'clock  and 
you  must  be  aboard."  His  manner  was  all  that  courtesy  could 
desire,  but  was  marked  by  a  firmness  which  rendered  further 
discussion  useless. 

By  traveling  night  and  day  through  a  most  disturbed  region 
crazy  with  enthusiasm,  I  reached  New  York  just  in  time  to 
witness  the  effect  there  of  the  opening  of  the  Civil  War. 


CHAPTER    VII 

IN     WAR    TIME 

I  FOUND  New  York  in  a  state  of  the  most  intense  excite 
ment.  The  great  Union  meeting  had  been  held  in  Union 
Square,  where  the  speeches  were  of  a  highly  stirring  character, 
some  of  the  most  declamatory  being  delivered  by  public  men 
whose  loyalty  may  have  needed  such  asseveration.  Flags 
floated  from  every  housetop ;  cockades  were  worn  by  every 
one.  Democracy  was  at  a  discount  and  Republicanism  in  the 
ascendant.  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  had  convened  and  ap 
pointed  the  Union  Defense  Committee,  of  which  General  Dix 
was  named  chairman.  Military  organizations  were  every 
where  the  fashion,  one  of  the  first  regiments  being  prepared  by 
Tammany  Hall.  Corporations  and  merchants  not  only  sub 
scribed  freely  to  the  military  fund,  but  promised  their  em 
ployees  who  enlisted  that  their  places  would  be  kept  open  for 
them  until  their  return ;  for,  at  that  enthusiastic  period,  sixty 
days  was  considered  more  than  ample  for  imposing  peace. 
Secretary  Seward  encouraged  this  view  which  he  held  and 
expressed  with  great  consistency  for  several  years,  even,  it  is 
said,  in  his  diplomatic  correspondence.  Of  course,  those  who 
were  connected  with  corporate  institutions,  as  I  was,  while 
ready  to  support  every  effort  to  save  the  Union  by  conquering 
a  peace,  could  not  fully  share  the  popular  enthusiasm  for  civil 
war.  It  was  well  said  by  a  wit  of  the  time  that  such  was  the 
patriotism  of  certain  eminent  loyal  gentlemen  that  they  were 
ready  to  send  all  their  nephews  and  brothers-in-law  into  the 
field.  "  The  old  flag  and  an  appropriation,"  became  the  watch 
word  of  many  a  soldier  of  fortune  who  was  careful  to  keep 
away  from  the  front.  It  was  about  this  time  that  the  term 
loyal  assumed  a  meaning  hitherto  unknown  to  lexicographers. 
The  loyal  citizen,  it  was  currently  said,  was  a  citizen  in  pur- 

168 


IN    WAR   TIME  169 

suit  of  a  government  contract,  and  the  truly  loyal,  the  citizen 
who  obtained  one.  Owners  of  vessels  who  had  offered  to 
supply  the  Confederacy  with  tonnage  (to  my  certain  knowl 
edge,  since  some  of  them  had  approached  me  in  the  hope  I 
would  exert  my  influence  in  their  behalf)  were  now  to  be  found 
among  the  most  blatant  loyalists.  Probably  these  speculators, 
knowing  the  unseaworthiness  of  their  vessels,  salved  their  con 
sciences  with  the  reflection  that  they  would  be  helping  the 
Union  cause  by  cheating  the  rebels. 

Many  persons  were  openly  accused  of  disloyalty,  however, 
who  were  thoroughly  loyal,  as  I  have  only  too  good  reason  to 
know.  At  the  very  moment  I  was  doing  my  utmost  in  the 
South  to  save  the  Union,  I  was  being  violently  assailed  by 
several  New  York  papers  for  antagonism  to  the  Union.  Four 
days  before  my  return  to  New  York  from  my  Southern  mis 
sion,  the  Evening  Post  contained  the  following: 

"  There  are  men  among  us  who  scruple  as  little  to  co-operate 
with  the  ring-leaders  of  the  Southern  rebellion,  as  if  treason 
were  as  innocent  a  matter  as  the  buying  and  selling  of  stocks. 
They  have  been  emboldened  by  the  general  forbearance  and 
by  the  example  of  more  conspicuous  villains  than  themselves 
who  have  escaped  punishment.  It  is  quite  time  that  these  per 
sons  should  learn  that  there  is  a  limit  to  the  patience  both  of 
the  American  community  and  of  the  American  government.  It 
is  time  that  they  should  be  taught  the  lesson  that  treason  is 
unsafe,  and  that  the  path  they  have  chosen  may  lead  to  the 
prison  and  the  gibbet. 

"  Yet  there  are  other  methods  by  which  these  audacious  tools 
of  sedition  may  be  put  down,  without  resorting  to  the  arm  of 
the  law.  Men  who  conspire  with  the  enemy  and  give  aid  and 
encouragement  to  rebellion  should  be  made  to  feel  that  they 
are  shouldering  a  weight  of  infamy  which  will  sink  them  to 
the  earth.  They  should  be  thrust  out  of  all  places  of  trust; 
they  should  be  made  to  see  that  they  have  lost  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  their  fellow  citizens.  Presidents  and  directors 
of  incorporated  companies,  who  are  engaged  in  these  plots 


170  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

against  the  public  order  of  the  country  which  gives  them  its 
protection,  should  be  summarily  deprived  of  their  places. 
Nothing  but  the  most  absolute  penitence  and  positive  con 
version  to  better  views  and  open  recantation  of  his  errors, 
should  save  such  a  man  as  Mr.  Richard  Lathers,  the  president 
of  the  Great  Western  Marine  Insurance  Company,  who,  a 
little  while  since,  was  boasting  of  his  ardent  loyalty  to  South 
Carolina,  and  his  readiness  to  attach  himself  to  her  fortunes, 
from  immediate  deposition.  Let  such  men  be  made  to  under 
stand  that  the  opportunity  is  open  for  them  to  take  up  their 
line  of  march  to  the  seceding  States  and  enroll  themselves  with 
the  insurgents. 

"  Hitherto  there  has  been  no  limit  to  the  forbearance  and 
indulgence  of  the  Northern  people.  Treason  has  swaggered  in 
our  streets  and  bragged  in  our  public  meetings  unchecked, 
but  this  must  be  endured  no  longer.  What  should  be  the  fate 
of  the  emissaries  whom  the  South  sends  among  us,  and  the 
Northern  men  whom  she  bribes  to  act  as  her  agents  in  the 
guilty  work  now  begun,  may  deserve  some  consideration.  It 
is  certainly  better  that  they  should  be  drummed  out  of  our 
borders  and  sent  among  the  rebels,  where  they  can  do  no  harm, 
than  that  they  should  be  caught  and  hanged.  Our  only 
scruple  in  this  matter  would  arise  from  the  danger  that  when 
the  course  of  legal  proceeding  is  once  departed  from,  and  irreg 
ular  modes  of  compulsion  substituted,  there  is  no  knowing 
where  the  people  will  stop.  Their  anger  once  unchained,  and 
bursting  from  the  ordinary  restraints  which  the  law  imposes, 
is  like  the  whirlwind  let  loose  to  destroy.  In  what  has  already 
happened,  both  at  Philadelphia  and  here,  the  tools  of  treason 
on  this  side  of  the  Potomac  have  received  a  warning  to  beware 
of  provoking  its  excesses." 

This  and  a  number  of  articles  of  similar  purport  in  other 
papers,  to  which  my  attention  was  called  on  my  arrival,  im 
pelled  me  to  send  at  once  to  all  the  principal  papers  of  the  city 
the  following  communication: 


IN   WAR   TIME  171 

YORK,  Sunday  Evening,  April  21,  1861. 

"  To  the  Editors: — I  return  to-day  after  an  absence  of 
over  two  months  from  the  city  on  the  business  of  the  Company 
over  which  I  preside.  To  my  surprise  I  learn  that  my  some 
what  active  efforts  last  winter  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation 
in  our  federal  relations,  in  co-operation  with  patriotic  citizens 
of  our  State,  have  been  misinterpreted  as  favoring  secession. 
I  am,  and  always  have  been,  a  devoted  lover  of  our  glorious 
Union,  and,  as  such,  shall  continue  to  support  the  government 
under  which  I  live,  and  sustain  and  defend  the  flag  which  pro 
tects  my  property  and  the  lives  of  myself  and  my  family. 

"  In  these  times  of  public  danger  perhaps  the  position  of 
every  citizen  should  be  known,  and  I  take  the  earliest  oppor 
tunity  to  declare  mine,  which  I  understand  has  been  called  for 
by  your  journal  during  my  absence. 

"  Very  respectfully, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

This  public  declaration,  unequivocal  as  it  was,  did  not  stop 
the  flow  of  abuse.  The  press  kept  up  its  attacks  upon  me,  and 
I  received  scores  of  threatening  letters  of  which  the  three  fol 
lowing  are  fair  samples: 

"  NEW  YORK,  April  23,  1861. 
"  MR.  RICHARD  LATHERS  : 

"Sir: — I  am  surprised  to  see  the  contemptible  lie  over  your 
name  in  your  cowardly,  craven,  fear-compelled  letter  in  the 
World  this  morning.  There  is  abundant  proof  that  you  have 
talked  Secession  at  the  South,  in  the  city  of  Savannah,  within 
two  months.  You  know  this,  and  you  know  your  letter  this 
morning  is  a  lie,  and  not  wishing  to  see  you  swing  as  a  traitor, 
as  I  fear  you  will  unless  you  make  tracks  very  soon,  I  give 
you  this  friendly  hint. 

'*  Traitors  cannot  live  in  this  atmosphere.  A  word  to  the 
wise  is  sufficient. 

"  DEATH  TO  TRAITORS." 


172  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

"GOD    AND    THE    UNION. 

"  HEADQUARTERS  OF  THE  UNION  VIGILANCE  COMMITTEE, 

"  NEW  YORK,  Apr.,  1861. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ  : 

"  Sir: — As  a  person  favoring  Traitors  to  the  Union,  you 
are  notified  that  your  name  is  recorded  on  the  Secret  List  of 
this  Association ;  your  movements  being  strictly  watched ;  and 
that  unless  you  openly  declare  your  adherence  to  the  Union, 
you  will  be  dealt  with  as  a  TRAITOR ! 

"  By  order, 

"  33,  SECRETARY." 

"  NEW  YORK    May  15    1861. 
"  MR.  RICHARD  LATHERS, 

"  Great  Western  Ins.  Co.,  New  York. 
"  Sir: — It  is  generally  believed  that  you  are  a  damned  Se 
cessionist  this  is  to  inform  you  that  unless  you  give  the  public 
better  proof  of  your  fidelity  to  the  government  than  you  have 
already  done,  you  will  be  waited  upon  by  a  committee  who 
will  see  that  you  are  rightly  delt  by.  Your  accursed  treason 
doctrines  and  South  Carolina  sympathies  will  not  do  for  this 
lattitude  just  now. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  WATCHMAN." 

These  charges  of  disloyalty  did  not  prevent  my  receiving 
innumerable  appeals  for  financial  and  other  help  in  the  work 
of  vindicating  the  supremacy  of  the  Union,  and  my  responses 
to  these  appeals  were  so  prompt  and  hearty  that  long  before 
the  close  of  the  War  the  most  relentless  of  my  accusers  were 
fain  to  admit  that  they  had  done  me  grievous  wrong. 

It  was  my  pleasure  and  privilege  to  contribute  to  the  various 
funds  for  the  equipment  of  New  York  volunteers ;  to  help  to 
organize  the  Pierrepont  Rifles ;  to  serve  on  the  Executive  Com 
mittee  of  citizens  appointed  by  the  Y.  M.  C.  A.  to  aid  in  fitting 


IN    WAR   TIME  173 

out  the  "  Ironsides  Regiment " ;  to  replace  with  fresh  colors 
the  old  war-worn  flags  of  the  Irish  Brigade;  to  appeal  to  the 
Common  Council  for  a  proper  appropriation  for  the  defense 
of  the  city ;  to  draw  up  and  secure  the  signatures  of  prominent 
financiers  and  merchants  to  a  memorial  to  Governor  Morgan 
praying  for  the  organization  of  a  local  artillery  battalion  for 
the  protection  of  the  harbor — matters  which  I  should  not 
think  of  mentioning  had  not  my  loyalty  been  called  in  ques 
tion  in  the  brutal  manner  already  described. 

President  Lincoln  wisely  disregarded  party  politics  by  calling 
into  his  Cabinet  the  great  Democratic  statesmen,  Edwin  M. 
Stanton  and  Salmon  P.  Chase  as  Secretary  of  War  and  Sec 
retary  of  the  Treasury,  respectively. 

Secretary  Chase  was  the  inventor  of  wonderful  financial 
schemes  which  supplied  the  Treasury  with  funds  in  spite  of 
the  derangement  of  business  by  the  War. 

Secretary  Stanton  (to  whom  I  was  introduced  by  Edwards 
Pierrepont,  subsequently  Minister  to  Great  Britain),  by  his 
firm,  hopeful,  and  untiring  devotion  to  the  perplexing  duties  of 
the  War  Department  under  the  most  trying  circumstances 
inspired  the  public  with  the  confidence  it  needed.  His  very 
despotism  was  an  element  of  power  highly  conducive  to  dis 
cipline  while  the  Army  was  being  organized.  I  remember  an  in 
cident  in  illustration  of  this.  As  I  was  calling  upon  Secretary 
Stanton  on  political  business  a  veteran  field  officer  entered  the 
room.  Stanton  at  once  recognized  him  and  accosted  him  in  the 
most  peremptory  manner  with,  "  What  are  you  doing  here  ?  " 
The  officer  in  a  highly  respectful  tone  informed  him  that  his 
command  being  near  his  residence,  he  was  anxious  to  see  his 
family  after  a  prolonged  absence  from  them,  and  that  he  had 
stopped  en  route  to  pay  his  respects  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 
!<  You  have  chosen  a  most  untimely  occasion  for  the  com 
pliment,"  said  Stanton.  "  Your  place  at  this  time  is  at  the  front. 
Your  country,  your  family,  and  myself  will  best  be  served  if 
you  will  return  to  your  command  and  give  your  attention  to 
the  rebel  armv." 


174  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Secretary  Chase  was  also  capable  of  being  severe  upon  oc 
casion,  but  even  when  he  was  the  most  severe  there  was  no 
brusqueness  in  his  manner. 

One  morning,  while  I  was  seated  with  him  in  the  Treasury 
building  in  Washington,  the  Cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Commerce 
of  New  York,  Mr.  Vail,  came  in,  and,  after  shaking  hands 
with  us,  said,  "  I  have  this  moment  arrived  in  Washington  on 
a  mission  to  you,  Mr.  Secretary.  The  banks  will  be  compelled 
to  suspend  to-morrow,  and  they  desire  that  the  Treasury  should 
suspend  to-day,  so  that  the  banks,  by  following  the  Government, 
may  have  a  popular  excuse  to  do  that  which  is  inevitable  to 
both."  Mr.  Chase,  in  his  soft  way,  replied,  "  Why  should  the 
Treasury  suspend  while  your  banks  contain  so  much  of  the 
Government  money?  The  Treasury  has  gold  enough  in  your 
vaults  to  distance,  at  least  for  the  present,  any  claims  now 
pressing;  and  the  Government  is  properly  as  anxious  to  throw 
the  onus  of  suspension  where  its  deposits  lie,  as  you  are  to  shift 
the  responsibility.  The  fact  is,  Mr.  Cashier,  the  banks  of  New 
York  as  well  as  the  Treasury  of  the  United  States  must  sus 
pend  for  want  of  the  coin,  and  it  is  no  use  to  attempt  to  shift 
a  common  evil." 

The  cashier  returned  to  his  bank  a  wiser,  if  not  a  richer,  man, 
and  the  people  cared  little  which  of  their  repositories  stopped 
payment  first. 

In  the  early  stages  of  the  War,  before  the  financial  policy 
of  the  Treasury  was  placed  on  a  sound  basis,  Secretary  Chase 
was  almost  constantly  in  communication  with  the  financial 
corporations  and  banks  of  New  York  through  the  popular  and 
energetic  financier,  Mr.  John  J.  Cisco,  then  Sub-Treasurer.  As 
President  of  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company,  I  was 
invited  by  Mr.  Chase  to  a  meeting  summoned  to  discuss  the 
matter  of  aiding  the  Treasury  by  subscriptions  to  a  loan.  As 
I  was  at  that  time  young  and  relatively  inexperienced  in  bank 
ing,  I  called  on  my  experienced  and  wealthy  banking  friends 
to  inform  myself  as  to  their  views  on  the  delicate  matter  of 
naming  a  rate  for  the  bonds ;  for  I  had  observed  that  in  finan 
cial  discussions  such  opinions  (and  this  is  as  true  to-dav 


IN    WAR   TIME  175 

as  it  was  then)  far  outweighed  the  most  cogent  arguments  of 
the  younger  and  less  wealthy  participants. 

The  meeting  assembled  in  the  American  Exchange  Bank, 
and  was  presided  over  by  Mr.  Stevens,  the  President  of  the 
$10,000,000  Bank  of  Commerce,  who  rose  and  with  his  usual 
dignity  read  the  letter  of  Secretary  Chase  and  commended  it 
to  the  serious  consideration  of  the  financiers  present.  Then, 
resuming  his  seat,  he  remarked  that  the  Chair  was  ready  to 
entertain  any  proposition  which  the  occasion  called  for.  A 
most  profound  and  rather  painful  silence  followed.  The  Presi 
dent,  who  was  one  of  those  with  whom  I  had  consulted  just 
before  the  meeting,  looked  over  to  me  in  an  encouraging  man 
ner.  So  I  rose  and  said,  "  Mr.  President  and  Gentlemen :  You 
may  not  all  know  that  young  as  I  appear  I  am  a  military  vet 
eran,  having  been  in  command  of  a  militia  regiment  in  time 
of  peace,  and,  while  never  mastering  the  tactics  of  war,  I  be 
came  familiar  through  my  observation  of  courts-martial  with 
a  courteous  and  useful  manner  of  dealing  with  knotty  ques 
tions,  which  I  propose  to  ask  this  body  of  financiers  to  per 
mit ;  namely,  that  the  youngest  and  least  important  member 
give  his  opinion  first,  because,  if  wise,  it  is  quite  easy  to  adopt 
it,  and  if  defective,  no  one  will  hesitate  to  differ  with  a  fledg 
ling.  This  is  my  reason  for  breaking  the  silence  created  by 
the  modesty  of  my  seniors.  Gentlemen,  we  represent,  it  is 
true,  corporations  organized  for  mercantile  purposes,  the  cap 
ital  of  which  might  be  put  to  a  more  profitable  use  than  the 
purchase  of  Government  bonds ;  but  when  the  nation  is  in 
the  midst  of  a  civil  war  which  imperils  the  enterprises  in  which 
we  are  interested,  there  can  be  no  question  that  our  duty  to 
our  stockholders  and  our  duty  to  our  country  coincide.  The 
real  question  with  regard  to  this  departure  from  our  ordinary 
business  is  not  one  of  profit  but  of  the  limit  of  safety.  If  we 
bid  for  a  larger  sum  than  can  be  safely  spared  from  our  capital, 
or  at  a  rate  which  the  bond  market  will  not  justify,  we  not 
only  hamper  ourselves  but  render  ourselves  unable  to  give 
further  assistance  to  the  Treasury  when  needed.  The  fact 
is,  our  monied  corporations  virtually  stand  between  the  govern- 


176  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

ment  Treasury  and  the  private  purse.  It,  therefore,  becomes 
essential  that  we  neither  bid  too  low,  which  will  impair  the 
credit  of  the  Government,  nor  too  high,  which  will  repel  pri 
vate  investors  and  prevent  them  from  relieving  us  of  a  loan 
somewhat  larger  than  we  can  permanently  carry." 

The  President  then  said  jocularly,  "It  is  but  justice  to  our 
military  veteran  to  say  that  his  financial  views  so  modestly 
put,  are  unusually  practical;  and  now  will  he  name  the  figure 
which  he  thinks  will  meet  the  two  contingencies  he  properly 
refers  to?"  Being  armed  by  my  private  interviews  with  the 
President  and  other  conservative  patriots  present,  I  named 
the  figure  as  about  92.  This  brought  to  his  feet  an  over-zeal 
ous,  inexperienced  young  banker,  who,  extending  his  arms 
dramatically,  declared  that  his  "  right  arm  might  wither  and 
his  tongue  cleave  to  the  top  of  his  mouth  "  before  he  would 
second  such  a  degradation  of  the  public  credit  as  offering  less 
than  par  for  government  bonds.  I  replied  that  it  afforded 
me  much  gratification  to  be  associated  with  so  loyal  a  citizen 
and  so  liberal  a  financier.  "  Will  the  gentleman  tell  the  meet 
ing  what  sum  he  proposes  to  subscribe  at  par,  as  the  practical 
proof  of  his  loyalty  ?  "  He  named  the  ridiculously  small  sum 
of  $20,000.  Now,  as  everyone  else  there  expected  to  take  from 
$100,000  to  $500,000,  it  will  be  perceived  that  when  money  is 
at  stake,  zeal  without  knowledge,  and  without  capital,  should 
at  least  be  modest. 

During  this  meeting  a  telegram  was  received  in  Washington 
that  the  whole  loan  would  be  taken  by  the  Boston  banks ;  but 
it  turned  out  afterwards  that  the  Boston  bid  was  only  a  loyal 
bid  like  that  of  our  immature  colleague,  zealous  but  impotent ; 
and  the  materializing  of  the  cash  had  to  be  effected  by  the  New 
York  banks  in  the  end. 

In  the  summer  of  1862  a  number  of  conservative  Demo 
crats,  of  whom  I  was  one,  were  urging  the  nomination  of  Gen. 
Dix  for  the  Governorship  of  New  York.  We  encountered 
much  opposition,  however,  because  many  believed  or  assumed 
to  believe  that  Gen.  Dix  had  gone  over  to  the  Republican 
party.  The  following  letter  from  the  editor  of  the  Journal 
of  Commerce,  W.  C.  Prime,  explains  the  situation: 


IN    WAR   TIME  177 

"  NEW  YORK,  Aug.  2Oth,  1862. 

"  Dear  Sir: — What  I  intended  to  say  to  you  was  this :  the 
convention  is  at  hand.  The  probable  nomination  for  Governor 
is  in  the  dark.  Seymour  is  the  favorite — far  ahead  of  anyone. 
General  Dix's  prospects  are  nowhere  now.  The  reason  is 
plain.  The  General  is  most  highly  respected  by  the  Democrats 
of  New  York.  Some  of  us  who  do  not  know  him  personally 
are  thoroughly  attached  to  him  as  a  noble,  honest,  patriotic 
man.  But  the  Democracy  are  resolved  to  nominate  only  a 
thorough-going  Democrat,  pledged  solemnly  to  stand  on  con 
servative  ground  against  every  form  of  radicalism.  Their 
candidate  must  be  an  open  enemy  of  Abolitionists.  He  couldn't 
be  elected  on  any  other  ground ;  besides  that,  the  Democracy 
are  now  at  least  if  not  always,  on  purely  patriotic  ground.  No 
one  cares  for  office  or  spoils.  No  one  works  to  succeed  for 
personal  or  office-holding  reasons.  It  is  for  the  country  that 
every  man  shapes  his  own  political  course.  We  must  have  a 
Governor  who  is  just  as  loyal  and  firm  in  the  support  of  the 
government  and  the  Union  as  General  Dix.  That  the  Democ 
racy  is  determined  on.  But  he  must  be  a  man  who  will  stand 
like  a  rock  against  the  radicalism  of  the  ultra  Republicans. 
He  must  be  above  suspicion — utterly  chaste  as  the  wife  of 
Caesar — not  to  be  named  in  connection  with  the  Northern  en 
emies  of  the  Constitution.  This  is  the  controlling  sentiment 
of  the  Democrats  here,  and  I  firmly  believe  they  represent  a 
large  majority  in  the  State. 

"  Now  the  trouble  with  General  Dix  is,  that  he  has  accepted 
office  (not  military)  from  the  Republican  administration,  and 
you  know  the  rank  and  file  of  the  Democracy  here  well  enough 
to  know  the  effect  of  such  a  course  on  them.  It  is  true  there  is 
no  clear  idea  that  the  General  has  gone  over  to  the  Republicans. 
But  there  is  a  suspicion,  and  this  is  damning.  Now  whether 
the  General  is  in  a  position  to  remove  this  suspicion  by  a  private 
letter  to  some  friend,  taking  fair  and  square  conservative  and 
Democratic  ground,  you  perhaps  know  better  than  I.  There 
is  no  living  man  I  would  rather  see  nominated  on  a  sound 
platform.  We  all  believe  him  to  be  a  thoroughly  honest 
man.  If  nominated  with  a  distinct  conservative  reputa- 


178  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

tion,  we  can  elect  him  by  a  tremendous  majority.  If 
nominated  on  a  doubtful  platform,  the  radicals  will  carry 
the  State.  It  would  be  sure  success  to  the  Democrats  if  Gen 
eral  Dix  could  be  their  candidate.  You  have  my  ideas  now, 
hastily  but  I  think  clearly  expressed. 

"  Yours  truly, 

"W.  C.  PRIME, 
"  Editor  N.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce." 

Those  of  us  who  knew  Gen.  Dix  intimately  knew  that  he  had 
not  ceased  to  be  a  Democrat;  but  to  the  end  of  presenting 
clearly  and  authoritatively  to  the  general  public  his  views  and 
desires  and  of  obtaining  copies  of  certain  original  documents 
corroborating  these  views  and  desires,  I  was  appointed  to  in 
terview  him  at  Fortress  Monroe,  where  he  was  then  stationed. 

On  reaching  Washington  I  found  that  owing  to  some  mili 
tary  disaster  citizens  were  prohibited  from  going  to  Fortress 
Monroe.  I  called  on  Mr.  Stanton,  therefore,  and  related  the 
whole  matter  to  him.  He  told  me  candidly  that  he  was 
opposed  to  the  acceptance  of  a  partisan  nomination  by  Gen. 
Dix,  but  added  half  jokingly  that  he  would  give  me  a  pass  on 
condition  that  I  also  carry  a  letter  from  him  to  Gen.  Dix  ad 
vising  him  not  to  become  a  candidate.  I  accepted  the  condi 
tions  and  did  the  two  errands. 

The  general  result  of  this  interview  will  be  gathered  from 
a  letter  which  I  wrote  to  Gen.  Dix  some  time  after  my  return 
to  New  York. 

"  Sept.  27th,  1862. 
"  MAJOR  GENL.  JOHN  A.  Dix,  Fortress  Monroe. 

"  My  dear  Sir: — On  my  return  from  Fortress  Monroe  I 
laid  before  Mr.  Prime  the  copies  of  your  able  correspondence, 
giving  him  as  full  an  explanation  of  the  peculiar  and  significant 
bearing  of  each  case  as  I  was  capable  of  recalling.  With  his 
usual  penetration,  he  at  once  comprehended  the  delicate  nature 
of  your  official  duties — complicated  as  they  were  by  the  vexa 
tious  interference  of  fanatical  demagogues  whose  pertinacity 


IN    WAR   TIME  179 

has  done  much  to  weaken  the  influence  of  the  Union  element 
in  the  border  States,  and  to  which  we  may  justly  attribute  most 
of  our  military  disasters.  In  common  with  your  other  friends, 
he  took  immediate  measures  by  correspondence  and  otherwise, 
to  have  your  efficient  and  patriotic  service,  and  your  connec 
tion  with  the  Administration,  fully  understood  and  correctly 
appreciated.  He  commended  in  the  highest  degree  the  vigor 
ous  and  statesman-like  paper  which  your  military  administra 
tion  had  produced,  and  which  he  regretted  he  could  not  be 
permitted  to  publish.  In  co-operation  with  your  friends  Judge 
Pierpont,  Judge  Barber,  Mayor  Baldwin,  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  and 
State  Senator  McMurray,  a  meeting  of  a  few  of  the  leading 
conservatives  of  the  city  was  held  at  the  house  of  Senator 
McMurray,  where  I  gave  a  general  account  of  my  very  satis 
factory  interview  with  you,  and  a  full  explanation  of  the  sub 
ject  matter  of  the  official  correspondence  which  confirmed  them 
in  confidence  in  you.  I  need  not  say  how  intensely  satisfactory 
your  course  was  regarded,  and  how  earnestly  all  desired  to 
have  your  name  put  before  the  convention  of  all  parties  at  the 
coming  election  for  chief  magistrate  of  the  State.  I  also  freely 
gave  your  views  as  to  any  use  to  be  made  of  your  name  in 
connection  with  such  nomination  and  your  preference  for  a 
senatorial  nomination.  It  was  believed  to  be  too  late  to  bring 
your  name  prominently  before  the  Convention,  as  the  meeting 
at  Albany  would  convene  in  a  few  days,  unless  it  should  be 
found  that  Mr.  Seymour's  friends  would  yield  without  a 
struggle ;  it  being  important  as  well  for  your  future  prospects 
as  for  the  interests  of  the  country  that  the  nominations  should 
be  as  free  from  controversy  as  possible.  In  addition  to  this  I 
explained  that  you  would  be  unwilling  to  accept  a  nomination 
for  Governor  under  a  very  rigid  party  organization,  especially 
if  strongly  put  in  opposition  to  the  Administration,  owing  to 
the  fact  that  your  relations  to  the  Administration,  as  a  military 
official  of  high  rank  and  responsibility,  precluded  during  a 
time  of  war  the  use  of  your  name  in  such  connection  as  might 
seem  antagonistic  to  the  Government. 

"  The  nomination  of  Mr.   Seymour  suits  we  think  all  the 


180  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

conservative  elements  of  the  State,  especially  against  a  candi 
date  so  extreme  as  Gen.  Wadsworth.  Your  friends  are  there 
fore  sanguine  that  a  conservative  success  this  fall  will  insure 
your  election  to  the  United  States  Senate. 

"  How  will  our  friend  Mr.  Stanton  be  likely  to  lean  in  our 
contest  here  ?  Will  the  right  of  discussion  of  the  press  and  of 
individuals  be  permitted  during  the  canvass  ?  Many  intelligent 
and  conservative  men  of  both  parties  fear  that  the  President's 
proclamation  No.  two,  presages  arrests  for  party  purposes.  Of 
course  I  do  not  believe  that  our  country  can  ever  be  subjected 
to  tyranny  of  this  sort.  When  such  a  thing  is  possible  we  will 
no  longer  be  a  free  people.  I  send  you  a  copy  of  the  Journal  of 
Commerce.  You  will  perceive  Mr.  Prime  initiates  and  favors 
your  senatorial  canvass  and  I  shall  see  other  members  of  the 
press  to  the  same  end,  as  we  wish  to  get  your  name  in  free  use 

in  all  parts  of  the  State  in  that  connection 

"  I  am  yours  very  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

The  refusal  of  General  Dix  to  have  his  name  considered, 
except  as  a  non-partisan  candidate,  led  to  the  nomination,  with 
out  opposition,  of  Horatio  Seymour,  as  a  typical  Union  Demo 
crat.  The  radical  element,  fearing  his  popularity  as  a 
conservative  statesman,  who  had  already  served  the  State  as 
its  executive,  set  about  to  malign  him  as  a  rebel  sympathizer ; 
and,  indeed,  it  was  believed  by  his  friends  that  an  attempt 
would  be  made  to  trump  up  some  charge  by  which  he  could  be 
spirited  off  to  Fort  Lafayette  by  the  War  Department,  as  others 
had  been.  Mr.  Emanuel  B.  Hart  (a  Sachem  of  Tammany 
Hall)  and  I  were  selected  to  confer  with  the  candidate  es 
pecially  with  reference  to  the  speech  to  be  made  by  him  at  a 
Democratic  ratification  meeting  to  be  held  in  the  Academy  of 
Music.  This  conference  took  place  in  my  private  office  on  Pine 
Street.  After  a  little  discussion,  we  requested  the  governor 
to  read  his  proposed  speech.  He  replied  that  he  never  wrote 
out  speeches  for  such  occasions,  but  he  would  give  us  a  gen 
eral  idea  of  what  it  would  be.  He  then  put  his  hand  in  his 


IN    WAR   TIME  181 

waistcoat  pocket  and  produced  a  number  of  slips  of  paper 
about  three  inches  long  and  half  an  inch  wide,  on  each  of  which 
a  sentence  was  written  as  a  sort  of  catchword.  These  slips 
were  systematically  arranged  so  that  he  could  easily  refer  to 
them.  He  began  with  slip  number  one  and  expanded  it,  and 
so  on  till  he  had  made  use  of  all  the  slips.  We  listened  with 
profound  admiration.  Mr.  Hart  then  said,  "  Governor,  your 
speech  is  worthy  of  a  Democratic  statesman,  and  of  yourself, 
but  we  must  have  a  more  specific  endorsement  of  the  war. 
You  and  our  party  are  charged  with  sympathy  with  the  re 
bellion,  and  with  obstructing  the  military  measures  of  the 
government.  This  mendacity  is  now  the  only  weapon  which 
the  Republicans  can  use  with  effect  to  influence  ignorant  voters 
in  a  contest  with  a  military  candidate  against  you."  At  our  re 
quest  Mr.  Seymour  then  revised  certain  portions  of  his  speech. 
Mr.  Hart  admitted  that  these  revisions  were  important,  but 
he  insisted  that  there  should  be  somewhere  a  sentence  for 
popular  quotation  which  could  not  be  perverted.  The  Gov 
ernor  replied,  "  I  agree  with  you  perfectly,  but  it  is  these 
terse  and  taking  sentences  which,  with  all  one's  care  to  be 
explicit,  are  so  often  perverted  or  improperly  applied,  to  the 
injury  of  the  speaker  or  writer."  He  then  picked  up  one  of 
the  slips  and  gave  a  paragraph  which  ended  with  the  phrase, 
:'  The  necessity  of  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war."  This 
was  just  what  we  wanted,  and  it  was  this  sentence  which  not 
only  brought  out  the  cheers  of  the  entire  audience  at  the  rally 
in  the  Academy  of  Music,  but  which  made  his  election  pos 
sible. 

At  this  same  Academy  of  Music  rally,  a  now  celebrated 
letter  of  General  Scott  was  read  in  public  for  the  first  time. 
General  Scott  had  served  his  country  on  too  many  battle 
fields,  and  loved  the  flag  and  the  Union  too  sincerely  to  be 
led  astray  by  his  secession  friends  and  associates  in  his  State 
of  Virginia.  Deeply  disturbed  by  the  menaces  of  the  dis 
union  elements  in  Congress  and  in  the  South,  he  had  earn 
estly  urged  President  Buchanan's  Secretary  of  War,  and, 
finding  him  unresponsive,  President  Buchanan  himself,  to 


182   REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

garrison  the  forts  in  Southern  ports ;  reminding  them  that 
it  was  this  sort  of  precaution  that  nipped  in  the  bud  the  rev 
olutionary  movement  of  1832  in  Charleston,  where  a  naval 
demonstration  satisfied  the  Nullifiers  that  the  Government, 
under  President  Jackson,  had  the  power  to  enforce  the  laws 
of  the  country,  and  meant  to  exercise  it.  This  wise  advice, 
as  is  well  known,  had  been  recklessly  disregarded.  General 
Scott,  feeling  his  responsibility  as  the  Commander  of  the 
Government  forces,  determined  to  make  one  last  desperate  ef 
fort  to  save  the  country  from  a  civil  war,  which  he  foresaw 
would  be  long  and  terrible,  by  appealing  to  the  incoming  Re 
publican  administration.  Accordingly,  in  a  letter  to  Hon. 
W.  H.  Seward,  dated  March  3,  1861,  he  gave  his  political 
solution  of  the  difficulty,  advising  substantially  the  admirable 
Crittenden  Compromise.  He  explained  that  the  putting  down 
of  the  rebellion  by  force  of  arms  would  d'emand  an  invading 
army  of  300,000  men,  and  that  even  such  an  army  could  not 
hope  to  be  successful  in  less  than  two  or  three  years ;  that 
after  the  rebellion  was  put  down  the  fifteen  conquered  States 
would  have  to  be  held  by  garrisons — a  situation  from  which 
a  military  despotism  would  be  likely  to  result.  And  he  con 
cluded  that  it  would  be  better  to  say  to  the  seceded  States, 
"  Wayward  sisters,  go  in  peace,"  than  to  resort  to  such  a 
sacrifice  of  blood,  property,  and  political  liberties  to  hold 
them. 

John  Van  Buren,  after  depicting  eloquently  and  vividly  the 
horror  of  imbruing  our  hands  in  the  blood  of  our  Southern 
brethren,  read  this  letter  in  full  without  naming  the  writer 
of  it  in  advance.  The  audience  listened  intently,  speculating 
the  while  as  to  who  the  reckless  person  so  out  of  sympathy 
with  the  party  in  power  could  be.  Finally,  when  he  had 
finished  feading,  Mr.  Van  Buren  added  in  his  most  ringing 
and  most  emphatic  tones,  "  This  is  the  advice  of  the  loyal 
and  venerated  Commander  of  our  armies,  General  Winfield 
Scott!" 

The  effect  was  electrical.  I  have  witnessed  the  marvelous 
effects  of  eloquence  in  many  public  meetings,  but  I  never 


IN    WAR    TIME  183 

witnessed  enthusiasm  equal  to  that  which  this  single  sentence 
evoked. 

I  had  the  honor  of  initiating  a  movement  for  the  presenta 
tion  to  Gen.  Scott  by  the  New  York  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  an  equestrian  portrait  of  himself  (as  the  hero  of  Chapul- 
tapec),  by  Troze,  which  had  been  intended  originally  for  the 
Military  Institute  of  his  native  State  of  Virginia,  but  which 
had  been  refused  by  that  institution  because  of  Gen.  Scott's 
loyalty  to  the  Union. 

While  speaking  of  Gen.  Scott,  I  cannot  resist  narrating  an 
incident  of  the  War  of  1812  which  I  got  from  Thurlow  Weed 
(one  of  the  greatest  editors,  politicians,  and  storytellers  of 
his  time)  on  one  of  his  visits  to  the  Manhattan  Club. 

It  appears  that  near  the  lines  of  Scott's  command  on  the 
Canadian  border  was  situated  the  residence  of  a  wealthy  lady, 
a  British  subject,  over  which  with  proper  gallantry  Scott 
placed  guards  to  prevent  damage  to  the  property.  The  lady, 
in  apparent  recognition  of  this  courteous  protection,  invited 
the  General  and  his  staff  to  breakfast  with  her  family  and  a 
few  lady  friends.  Although  not  strictly  according  to  military 
discipline  to  go  outside  the  lines,  yet  a  good  breakfast  with 
beautiful  and  cultured  ladies  was  not  to  be  refused  by  men 
weary  of  camp  fare.  The  officers  were  cordially  received  in 
the  drawing  room  by  their  fascinating  hostess,  and  after  some 
general  conversation  breakfast  was  announced.  Just  as  the 
guests  were  taking  their  seats  at  the  breakfast  table,  how 
ever,  one  of  them  returned  to  the  drawing  room  to  get  his 
bandanna  handkerchief  which  he  had  left  in  his  hat — where 
at  that  time  the  handkerchief  was  ordinarily  carried  instead 
of  in  the  pocket.  The  hat  happened  to  lie  on  a  stool  in  a  win 
dow  overlooking  a  clump  of  shrubbery,  in  which  he  perceived 
several  redcoats  with  muskets,  evidently  waiting  in  ambush 
a  favorable  opportunity  to  capture  the  American  officers. 
Without  displaying  any  alarm  he  quietly  went  back  to  the 
breakfast  room  and  notified  his  party  that  they  were  betrayed, 
whereupon  they  all  jumped  out  of  the  window  at  the  back 
of  the  house,  mounted  horses  which  happened  to  be  near,  and 


184  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

escaped,  reaching  camp  just  in  time  to  confront  the  British 
detachment  which  opened  the  celebrated  battle  of  Lundy's 
Lane.  "  I  had  this  story  from  Gen.  Scott  himself,"  said  Mrt 
Weed,  "  and  he  told  me  that  he  made  his  officers  pledge  their 
honor  never  to  divulge,  while  he  lived,  this  violation  of  dis 
cipline  which  was  not  to  be  condoned  even  by  the  brilliant 
victory  of  which  it  was  the  harbinger  if  not  the  origin." 

On  this  or  a  similar  occasion,  Mr.  Weed  told  the  following 
anecdote  to  illustrate  the  wonderful  self-possession  of  Abra 
ham  Lincoln.  I  give  it  as  nearly  in  Mr.  Weed's  own  words 
as  my  memory  permits :  "  It  is  well  known  that  Mrs.  Lincoln 
had  a  singular  prejudice  against  anyone  who  seemed  to  have 
any  influence  with  her  husband.  On  my  first  visit  to  the 
President-elect  at  Springfield  (in  behalf  of  the  Republican 
party  to  urge  the  selection  of  Mr.  Seward  as  his  Secretary 
of  State),  I  was  invited  by  Mr.  Lincoln  to  stop  at  his  house. 
I  accepted,  but  I  soon  found  that  Mrs.  Lincoln  did  not  like 
me.  Indeed,  she  was  barely  polite  to  me.  I  was  not  dis 
posed,  however,  to  have  my  mission  defeated  by  the  contempt 
of  a  woman,  and  I  stayed  on.  One  night  at  supper  when  sev 
eral  other  guests  were  present,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  a  great 
joker,  cracked  a  joke  which  displeased  Mrs.  Lincoln  because 
she  erroneously  imagined  it  to  be  at  her  expense.  Quicker 
than  a  flash  she  picked  up  a  cup  of  hot  tea  and  flung  it  clear 
across  the  table  at  Mr.  Lincoln's  head,  then  jumped  up  in 
great  fury  and  rushed  out  of  the  room.  You  can  well  con 
ceive  the  embarrassment  of  the  eight  or  ten  guests.  In  a 
second,  however,  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  had  only  escaped  the 
scalding  tea  by  ducking — the  cup  striking  the  wall  back  of  him 
and  flying  into  pieces — raised  his  head  with  great  deliberation 
and  remarked  very  clamly,  '  There  were  two  branches  of 
the  Todd  family  in  Virginia,  one  celebrated  for  irascible 
temper,  and  the  other  for  amiability ;  I  need  not  add  that  I 
married  into  the  amiable  branch.'  This  restored  the  spirits 
of  the  company,  and  inside  of  one  minute  conversation  was 
in  full  blast  as  if  nothing  had  happened." 

In  1862,  at  a  meeting  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  Mr. 


IN    WAR   TIME  185 

C.  H.  Marshall  offered  the  following  Resolution,  which  was 
unanimously  adopted: 

"  WHEREAS,  Our  commerce  with  Europe  is  very  much  ex 
posed  to  the  depredations  of  rebel  pirates,  there  being  no  armed 
national  vessels  on  that  coast  at  this  time. 

"Resolved,  That  the  President  of  this  Chamber  be  re 
quested  to  appoint  a  committee  to  draft  a  respectful  memorial 
to  the  Executive,  requesting  the  speedy  despatch  of  two  or 
more  armed  vessels  to  that  coast  for  the  protection  of  our 
marine  interests,  and  to  present  said  memorial  with  as  little 
delay  as  practicable  at  Washington  for  a  favorable  considera 
tion." 

The  President  of  the  Chamber  named  as  this  committee, 
Messrs.  C.  H.  Marshall  (chairman),  T.  Tileston,  and  myself. 
Our  committee  prepared  the  following  Memorial : 

*'  To  His  EXCELLENCY,  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN, 
"  President  of  the  United  States : 

"  The  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  the  State  of  New  York 
respectfully  asks  your  attention  to  the  necessity  which  now 
exists  for  the  speedy  despatch  of  armed  vessels  of  the  United 
States  to  the  coast  of  Europe,  for  the  protection  of  our  mer 
chant  marine  trading  between  ports  of  the  loyal  States  and 
European  ports. 

"  The  destruction,  in  the  English  Channel,  on  the  i6th  of 
November  last,  by  the  rebel  steamer  Nashville,  of  the  New 
York  packet  ship  HARVEY  BIRCH,  one  of  our  largest  and  finest 
carrying  vessels,  bound  from  Havre  to  New  York,  gives  rise 
to  apprehensions  that  similar  depredations  on  our  commerce 
will  be  attempted  with  equal  success,  unless  the  most  efficient 
measures  for  their  prevention  are  taken  at  once. 

"  The  apprehensions  thus  excited  have  caused  a  great  ad 
vance  in  the  rate  of  insurance  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic, 
are  producing  much  alarm  among  shippers  and  consignees, 
and  also  causing  serious  disquiet  with  regard  to  the  safety 


186  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

of  passengers.  It  is  apparent  that  the  outrages  committed 
on  the  flag  and  commerce  of  the  United  States,  hitherto  con 
fined  to  our  own  coasts,  will  be  repeated  wherever  the  op 
portunity  occurs,  unless  promptly  checked  by  the  intervention 
of  the  Government. 

"  In  behalf  of  the  vast  commercial  and  national  interests 
thus  imperiled,  and  to  avert  the  disastrous  consequences  which 
will  follow  if  the  passage  of  our  merchant  ships  on  the  great 
highways  of  European  trade  is  liable  to  such  fatal  interrup 
tions,  we  respectfully  and  urgently  solicit  that  you  will  im 
mediately  cause  to  be  stationed  a  sufficient  number  of  steam 
vessels  off  the  coast  of  Europe,  where  our  commerce  is  most 
exposed,  to  guard  against  further  acts  of  piracy  upon  our 
merchant  marine,  and  to  punish  those  who  may  attempt 
them. 

"  By  order  of  the  Chamber, 
"  E.  PERIT,  President  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

"  J.  SMITH  HOMANS,  Secretary." 

In  pursuance  of  the  mission  confided  to  us  by  the  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  our  committee  went  to  Washington,  where  a 
number  of  the  New  York  State  delegation  in  Congress  vol 
unteered  to  accompany  us  on  our  visit  to  the  President.  We 
assembled  in  the  parlor  of  the  Arlington  Hotel  properly  at 
tired  for  so  formal  a  visit,  and,  marching  to  the  White  House 
two  by  two,  entered  the  ornate  reception  room.  In  a  few 
minutes  President  Lincoln  appeared,  not  in  official  garb  as 
we  had  expected,  but  shuffling  along  in  two  shabby  old  slippers 
of  dimensions  overliberal  even  for  his  very  large  feet,  and  a 
much  faded  and  out-of-shape  dressing  gown,  which  satisfied 
us  that  he  intended  to  feel  much  at  home,  irrespective  of  any 
stiffness  we  might  assume  toward  the  Chief  Magistrate  of 
the  nation.  He  shook  each  of  us  by  the  hand  heartily,  and 
taking  his  seat  at  the  head  of  a  long  table  invited  us  to  do 
the  same,  adding,  u  Tell  me  your  business  at  once."  I  then 
submitted  the  foregoing  Memorial  to  the  President,  supple 
menting  it  by  explaining  to  him  that  the  loyal  merchants  of 


IN    WAR   TIME  187 

New  York  derived  their  power  to  aid  his  administration  in 
subduing  the  rebellion  from  the  profits  and  income  of  foreign 
commerce;  that  our  mission  was  to  ask  him  to  protect  this 
important  resource  of  the  Government  by  a  few  naval  vessels, 
for  the  expense  of  which  underwriters  and  merchants  of  the 
city  were  ready  to  make  a  liberal  subscription. 

The  President  seemed  to  be  in  full  sympathy  with  my  re 
marks  while  I  was  speaking,  but  when  I  had  closed  he  made 
me  feel  cheap  enough  by  saying  with  a  merry  twinkle  in  his 
eye,  "  Very  well  put,  young  man,  but  the  blanket  is  too  short," 
a  remark  which  fell  like  lightning  out  of  a  clear  sky  upon 
our  committee.  But  the  President  resumed,  "  This  remark  is 
not  to  apply  to  your  speech,  but  to  the  object  of  it.  If  you 
should  ever  sojourn  in  a  tavern  at  my  old  home  in  Spring 
field,  of  a  cold  winter  night,  you  might  be  put  in  a  room 
without  furnace  or  stove,  and  if  you  were  tall  like  myself  and 
desired  to  cover  your  chest  with  the  blanket  you  would  un 
cover  your  feet,  and  if  you  desired  to  protect  your  feet  you 
would  then  have  to  uncover  your  chest.  That  is  the  present 
condition  of  our  small  navy.  If  we  fully  protect  the  Confed 
erate  harbors  from  blockade  running,  we  cannot  cover  the 
China  Seas  and  other  distant  grounds  where  the  rebel  cruisers 
are  to  be  found.  But,  gentlemen,  I  am  in  full  sympathy  with 
you,  and  I  will  postpone  the  regular  meeting  of  the  Cabinet 
for  two  hours,  and  I  advise  you  to  avail  yourselves  of  the 
opportunity  to  call  on  each  of  the  members." 

The  committee  did  as  the  President  advised,  and  was  well 
received  by  the  Cabinet  officers,  who  subsequently  discussed 
the  matter  in  their  Cabinet  meeting;  but  the  President,  as  in 
all  things  coming  before  him,  seemed  to  have  had  an  intuitive 
knowledge  of  every  practical  aspect  of  the  case.  The  blanket 
was  really  too  short,  and  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  had  not 
the  power  to  make  it  longer. 

I  commenced  my  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  Mr. 
Seward,  by  saying  that,  while  our  committee  was  impressed 
by  the  dignity  of  his  high  position  as  the  Premier  of  this  great 
nation,  we  felt  on  the  other  hand  a  special  nearness  to  him 


i88  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

as  a  citizen  of  the  great  State  of  New  York.  He  stopped  me 
at  once,  and  with  much  majesty  said,  "No,  sir;  a  citizen  of 
the  United  States."  After  this  exhibition  of  his  doctrinaire 
propensity,  however,  we  found  him  ready  to  do  everything  he 
could  to  forward  the  object  of  our  mission.  And  it  may  be 
proper  here  to  mention  that  it  was  by  reason  of  his  requesting 
the  underwriters  to  take  great  care  to  provide  themselves  with 
the  fullest  legal  proofs  of  the  amount  of  their  losses  when 
vessels  insured  by  them  were  captured  by  the  rebels,  that 
the  claims  on  Great  Britain  were  able  to  be  properly  formu 
lated  and  pressed  after  the  war. 

When  our  formal  interview  with  Secretary  Chase  was  over, 
the  Secretary-  remarked  to  me  that  one  of  our  committee  had 
informed  him  that  I  was  an  expert  bookkeeper  as  well  as  an 
underwriter.  He  would  be  glad,  he  said,  if  I  would  go  with 
him  in  the  morning  into  the  issue  department  of  the  Treas 
ury,  where  the  books  would  prove  to  me  that  not  only  was 
every  post  bill  (afterwards  called  greenback)  issued  carefully 
numbered  and  registered,  but  that  even  the  purpose  for  which 
it  was  put  into  circulation  was  specified.  This  I  found  to  be 
fully  accomplished  by  a  novel  but  clear  set  of  entries,  and 
so  reported  to  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  on  my  return  to 
New  York,  where  a  false  rumor  had  been  spread  that  these 
bills  were  rapidly  printed  and  issued  like  a  daily  paper. 

In  December  of  this  year  (1862)  I  received  from  J.  C.  G. 
Kennedy,  the  Commissioner  of  the  National  Census  Bureau, 
the  following  letter,  which  displays  in  an  interesting  light  the 
character  of  Secretary  Seward: 

"  WASHINGTON,  22  Dec.,  1862. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS, 

"  New  York. 

"  My  dear  Sir: — On  Tuesday  I  dined  with  Baron  Gerolt. 
The  dinner  was  a  diplomatic  one;  I,  the  only  guest  unknown 
to  fame  and  diplomacy.  The  guests  were  foreign  ministers 
and  their  attaches  and  Mr.  Seward  and  son.  The  chairman 
of  Foreign  Affairs  of  the  Senate  was  invited,  but  came  not ; 


IN    WAR    TIME  189 

late  in  the  evening  the  Baron  handed  me  a  note  from  him  ex 
pressing  his  disappointment  etc.,  etc.,  etc.  I  then  said  there 
is  a  breach  in  the  Cabinet.  No  one  would  have  guessed  it 
from  Mr.  Seward's  hilarity;  he  was  extremely  lively  and  en 
tertaining,  and  left  a  little  after  ten  o'clock.  Last  evening,  I 
passed  an  hour  and  a  half  with  him.  I  alluded  to  his  vivacity 
on  Friday  evening.  He  said,  '  I  was  at  that  moment  the  hap 
piest  man,  for  I  imagined  myself  relieved  of  the  cares  which 
so  greatly  have  oppressed  me,  and  fondly  dreamed  myself  a 
free  man,  as  I  had  just  resigned  my  place  at  the  head  of  the 
Cabinet  but  this  pleasure  was  not  of  long  duration.'  He, 
on  yesterday,  agreed  to  acquiesce  in  the  demands  of  the  Presi 
dent  for  his  return,  upon  what  principle  I  know  not;  but  am 
assured  there  is  no  likelihood  of  any  difference  between  him 
and  the  President,  leading  him  to  any  like  course  hereafter. 

"  He  spoke  confidently  of  his  hope  for  an  early  improvement 
in  the  appearance  of  things  and  declared  that  in  his  opinion 
the  hour  of  gloom  had  passed  and  that  the  future  promised 
hope.  I  read  your  letter  to  him,  whereupon  he  made  some 
kind  comments  and  reiterated  his  belief  that  the  morning 
dawneth. 

"  Ever  faithfully, 

"J.  C.  G.  KENNEDY." 

Mr.  Kennedy  (the  writer  of  the  above),  an  intimate  friend 
from  whom  I  received  many  letters  at  this  time  which  aided 
ine  greatly  in  keeping  abreast  of  the  social  and  political  doings 
at  the  National  Capital,  was  the  trusted  friend  of  President 
Lincoln,  of  the  Secretary  of  State,  of  Senators  Thurman  and 
Sumner,  of  all  the  older  leaders  in  Congress,  and  of  the 
larger  part  of  the  diplomatic  corps.  He  was  also  a  classical 
scholar  of  acknowledged  proficiency.  I  recall  many  discus 
sions  between  Senators  Thurman  and  Sumner  and  other  men 
fond  of  the  classics  with  regard  to  passages  in  the  Greek  and 
Latin  poets ;  and  time  and  again  I  have  heard  his  companions 
say,  "  Come,  Kennedy,  which  of  us  quotes  these  lines 
properly?  " 


190  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Although  of  the  old  line  Whig  school  of  the  Republican 
party,  he  was  exceptionally  popular  with  men  of  all  parties 
because  of  his  sterling  good  sense,  his  integrity,  and  his  con 
servatism  in  matters  of  religion.  His  house  was  modest  and 
his  hospitality  unpretentious,  but  he  received  more  distinguished 
people  than  any  other  individual  in  Washington. 

During  one  of  my  visits  to  Washington  after  the  close  of 
the  war  I  invited  a  few  friends  to  meet  Mr.  Kennedy  and 
Mrs.  Kennedy  and  daughter  at  an  informal  luncheon  at  Cham 
berlain's  Hotel.  Among  those  invited  were  Senator  and  Mrs. 
Squires,  Judge  and  Mrs.  MacArthur,  General  and  Mrs.  Van 
Vliet,  Senator  and  Mrs.  Eustis,  and  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Tappan  of 
Boston.  Mr.  Kennedy  was  greatly  annoyed  to  find,  at  the 
last  moment,  that  an  official  engagement  might  prevent  him 
from  being  present.  The  company  had  assembled  in  the  parlor 
and  Mrs.  MacArthur  was  kind  enough  to  offer  to  superin 
tend  the  laying  of  the  table  in  the  adjoining  room.  She  re 
turned  quickly  to  the  parlor,  however,  greatly  alarmed  from 
discovering  that  provision  had  been  made  for  thirteen  guests. 
She  declared  that  her  fears  would  not  allow  her  to  sit  down 
with  a  party  of  thirteen,  because  she  shared  in  the  belief  that 
one  of  the  number  must  die  before  the  end  of  a  year.  Our 
efforts  to  divest  her  mind  of  this  superstition  utterly  failed; 
but  fortunately  Mr.  Kennedy  put  in  an  appearance  and  got 
us  out  of  our  dilemma  as  he  made  number  fourteen. 

A  crazy,  drunken  vagabond  assassinated  Mr.  Kennedy  in 
broad  daylight  in  the  street  near  his  office  a  few  months  after 
without  any  alleged  cause  whatever — whereby  the  fallacy  of 
the  "  thirteen  theory  "  was  signally  exemplified. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  war,  by  reason  of  my  close  re 
lations  with  several  high  officials  at  Washington  (for  which 
I  was  largely  indebted  to  the  good  offices  of  Mr.  Kennedy), 
I  was  constantly  called  upon  to  approach  these  officials  with 
regard  to  matters  of  policy  and  preferment  both  military  and 
civil,  and  was  beseiged  furthermore  with  pathetic  appeals  for 
news  of  the  missing  from  both  armies  and  with  requests  for 
passes  to  visit  the  front. 


J.  C.  G.  KENNEDY 
From  a  photograph  of  a  painting 


IN    WAR   TIME  191 

While  dining  with  Baron  Gerolt,  the  Prussian  Minister, 
soon  after  the  beginning  of  the  war,  I  witnessed  from  his 
residence  the  torch-light  ovation  (by,  I  think,  the  Fifth  Army 
Corps)  to  General  McClellan.  All  Washington  seemed  to  be 
illuminated,  and  the  people  seemed  to  have  gone  crazy  with 
enthusiasm  over  "  Little  Mac,"  as  he  was  lovingly  called  at 
that  time  by  many  of  the  persons  who  afterwards  would  gladly 
have  had  him  crucified.  He  was  the  very  god  of  war,  judging 
by  the  speeches  of  Mr.  Seward  and  other  members  of  the 
Cabinet  to  the  enormous  outdoor  assemblage  gathered  to  do 
him  honor.  He  was  the  young  Napoleon;  and  the  illustrated 
papers  of  the  day  were  filled  with  equestrian  portraits  of  him 
resembling  those  of  Napoleon  crossing  the  Alps. 

I  recall  a  lecture  in  New  York  by  an  engraver  who  said 
that  when  McClellan  was  removed  and  General  Pope  put  in 
command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  the  publishers  utilized 
the  McClellan  equestrian  plate  by  simply  boring  out  the  head 
of  McClellan  and  inserting  that  of  Pope  in  its  place.  This 
device,  he  added,  was  resorted  to  every  time  that  there  was 
a  change  in  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac ;  and 
thus  the  original  McClellan  plate  was  used  finally  for  eques 
trian  portraits  of  Gen.  Grant — a  most  striking  commentary  on 
the  fickleness  of  popular  favor. 

I  was  in  Washington  at  the  time  of  the  fearful  and  dis 
graceful  defeat  of  the  army  under  General  Pope,  also ;  a 
period  of  great  depression  and  excitement,  in  which  the 
Administration  was  compelled  to  appeal  to  the  generosity  of 
McClellan  to  go  to  the  head  of  his  army  again  and  save  the 
Union. 

A  number  of  friends  and  advisers  of  the  General  met  at 
the  residence  of  one  of  them,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  this 
statement,  to  discuss  the  conditions  of  his  returning  to  the 
command  of  a  defeated  and  discouraged  army.  He  had 
against  him  not  only  the  civil  administration  at  home,  dom 
inated  by  a  factious  and  reckless  party  press,  but  also  the  head 
of  the  War  Department,  who,  besides  withholding  the  re- 
enforcements  called  for,  actually  withdrew  from  the  lines,  on 


192   REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  flimsy  excuse  of  protecting  the  Capital,  an  army  corps 
forming  an  important  link  in  the  plan  of  operations.  It  was 
first  determined  to  be  necessary  that  McClellan  should  re- 
assume  command  of  the  army  which  idolized  him  and  which 
had  been,  after  his  removal,  abused,  defeated  and  discouraged 
by  reason  of  political  appointments ;  but  it  was  argued  that 
in  acceding  to  the  President's  earnest  request  the  General 
should  require  certain  specific  promises  of  non-interference 
with  his  military  plans  by  the  Secretary  of  War  or  by  the 
political  advisers  of  the  Executive  in  Congress.  It  proved  to 
be  a  most  difficult  task  to  draw  a  paper  which  should  embody 
the  ideas  of  all  the  persons  present.  One  draft  after  another 
was  submitted  and  rejected,  and  my  friend,  worn  out  with 
fatigue,  fell  asleep.  After  hours  of  discussion,  a  form  was 
agreed  upon  and  he  was  waked  up  for  his  assent  thereto. 
His  sleep  had  given  him  a  conservative  view  of  the  matter 
and  he  said,  "  Gentlemen,  it  seems  to  me  that  General  Mc 
Clellan  will  be  criticised  if  he  attemps  to  make  conditions  with 
his  country  in  time  of  danger.  Therefore,  in  behalf  of  the 
General,  I  advise  throwing  this  in  the  fire,  and  sending  the 
General's  simple  acceptance."  And  his  counsel  prevailed. 

Some  time  after  this  I  had  the  privilege  of  giving  a  dinner 
in  honor  of  General  and  Mrs.  McClellan  at  New  Rochelle, 
at  which  the  Mayor  of  New  York,  the  President  of  the  Cham 
ber  of  Commerce,  and  several  bankers,  merchants,  and  editors 
were  present.  The  speeches  after  the  dinner  felicitated  Gen. 
McClellan  on  his  wonderful  creation  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  and  on  the  zeal  and  bravery  of  his  officers  and  men 
in  every  battle  into  which  he  had  led  them  in  defense  of  the 
Union,  and  reflected  on  the  partisans  who  had  influenced  the 
President  to  remove  him.  General  McClellan  being  toasted 
first  as  the  guest  of  the  occasion,  replied  modestly,  abstaining 
from  the  least  reference  to  his  ill  treatment  by  the  Administra 
tion.  The  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  was 
toasted  next,  was  given  much  applause  when  he  rose  to  reply. 
Now  this  gentleman,  esteemed  for  his  prominence  and  liberality 
in  public  matters  as  well  as  for  his  pleasing  manner,  began  his 


IN    WAR   TIME  193 

speech  by  praising  the  General  for  his  high  moral  character  and 
for  his  distinguished  services  in  the  field,  intending,  it  was  very 
evident,  to  indorse  the  political  objections  against  McClellan 
of  the  sectional  partisans  who  had  attempted  to  shake  his 
popularity.  As  soon  as  he  had  closed  his  eulogy,  however, 
and  uttered  the  word  but,  a  storm  of  applause  broke  forth 
which  was  renewed  every  time  he  attempted  to  go  on.  Find 
ing  it  impossible  to  resume  his  speech,  he  whispered  to  me, 
"What  does  this  interruption  mean?"  I  replied,  "It  is  quite 
obvious  that  your  glowing  words  have  not  yet  expended  their 
patriotic  influence  on  your  friends."  At  this  point  another 
gentleman,  William  C.  Prime,  I  think,  an  intimate  friend  and 
confidential  supporter  of  the  General,  was  toasted,  and  com 
plimented  the  preceding  speaker  on  his  broad  views  of  public 
policy  and  his  appreciation  of  the  merits  of  our  distinguished 
guest.  The  next  morning  the  opponents  of  McClellan  were 
astonished  to  read  in  the  papers  a  eulogy  of  him  by  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce. 

Several  of  the  radical  journals  of  the  day  were  disposed 
to  gauge  the  retired  General's  loyalty  by  the  supposed  want 
of  it  in  his  host.  Thus,  Wilkes'  Spirit  of  the  Times  contained 
the  following: 

"Political  sympathies — In  noticing  the  daily  movements  of 
McClellan  the  presses  which  rejoice  in  the  contemplation  of 
the  genius  of  McClellan,  have  failed  to  notice  that  Gen.  Mc 
Clellan  recently  enjoyed  a  grand  and  formal  dinner  at  the  house 
of  Richard  Lathers,  at  New  Rochelle.  Mr.  Lathers  is  a  wealthy 
merchant  of  secession  proclivities,  who  initiated  the  early 
movements  in  favor  of  the  South.  We  are  somewhat  curious 
to  see  a  list  of  the  guests  of  the  occasion." 

Another  journal  remarked:  "General  McClellan's  procliv- 
ites  for  the  South  can  be  verified  by  his  accepting  the  invita 
tion  of  that  dare-devil  Lathers,  whose  rebel  sentiments  are 
well  known,  while  he  has  declined  numerous  invitations  of 
loyal  men." 

The  truth  was,  that  the  General  was  anxious  to  retire  from 
public  observation.  He  only  consented  to  come  to  my  house 


194  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

quietly,  to  meet  a  few  of  his  intimate  friends,  with  the  under 
standing  that  the  guests  should  be  invited  personally  and  that 
care  should  be  taken  to  keep  it  out  of  the  newspapers.  But 
with  all  our  efforts  to  avoid  publicity  the  train  was  detained 
by  force  at  every  station  at  which  it  stopped  by  an  enthusiastic 
crowd  who  were  determined  to  see  and  cheer  "  Little  Mac  " ; 
and  it  was  with  the  greatest  difficulty  my  coachman  drove  him 
through  the  throng  of  his  admirers  to  my  house. 

One  morning  in  the  early  part  of  1863,  a  Committee  of 
Three,  composed  of  Moses  H.  Grinnel,  C.  N.  Marshall,  and 
William  E.  Dodge,  called  on  me  at  my  office  and  informed  me 
that  such  was  the  public  alarm,  owing  to  the  many  mistakes 
in  the  management  of  the  war,  and  the  financial  risk  it  in 
volved,  that  it  had  become  necessary  to  organize  a  League  of 
the  chief  corporations  and  business  men  of  the  country 
pledged  to  unconditional  loyalty  to  the  Government ;  that  the 
Presidents  of  all  the  corporations  in  the  City  had  already  signed 
the  pledge,  and  that  they  now  called  on  me  as  the  President 
of  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company  to  join  in  the  loyal 
work.  I  replied,  "  Gentlemen,  I  thank  you  for  the  compli 
ment  of  your  rather  tardy  visit,  and  I  desire  to  congratulate 
you  on  the  measure  of  safety  you  have  originated.  The  fac 
tions  in  the  political  parties  at  this  time  are,  indeed,  alarming, 
and  well  calculated  to  discourage  the  President  and  the  com 
mander  of  the  army  in  the  field.  I  have  myself  never  had  any 
doubt  of  the  ultimate  success  of  the  Union  armies  or  of  the 
loyalty  of  the  great  body  of  the  people,  even  at  the  South,  and 
I  respect  this  precautionary  personal  pledge  in  every  signer, 
who  thus  arms  himself  against  his  own  weakness.  But  I 
cannot  sign  such  a  paper  as  you  present.  You  may  all  know 
that  my  early  manhood  was  passed  in  Georgetown,  South 
Carolina,  a  little  city  set  in  the  midst  of  fertile  fields,  whose 
planters  resided  a  part  of  the  year  in  town.  They  were  not 
rich,  as  wealth  is  computed  here,  but  they  lived  well  and,  per 
haps,  luxuriously,  considering  their  modest  fortunes,  drinking 
the  best  of  old  Madeira  in  greater  quantities,  at  times,  than 
temperance  would  justify.  An  eloquent  Northern  temper- 


IN    WAR    TIME  195 

ance  lecturer  visited  Georgetown  and  satisfied  these  wine 
drinkers  that  total  abstinence  was  the  only  safe  remedy  against 
what  they  themselves  deprecated  as  excess.  A  Total  Absti 
nence  Society  was  organized  among  the  old  men,  and  then  it 
was  proposed  to  bring  in  the  young  men,  also.  The  com 
mittee,  unlike  your  committee,  waited  on  me  first  to  obtain  my 
name  to  the  pledge  as  an  example  to  other  young  business  men, 
as  I  had  at  that  time  the  peculiar  reputation  of  never  having 
tasted  wine,  although  my  house  was  well  known  for  good  wine 
and  hospitality.  I  said  to  my  temperance  friends,  '  I  cannot 
so  far  undervalue  my  own  temperance  as  to  admit  the  necessity 
of  taking  a  pledge  to  avoid  drunkenness.'  And  to  you,  gentle 
men,  I  would  say  with  all  respect,  '  I  am  unwilling  to  impugn 
my  own  stability  by  taking  a  pledge  to  avoid  disloyalty.' ' 

After  this  short  and  rather  personal  harangue,  my  old 
friend,  Moses  H.  Grinnel,  always  outspoken,  said  to  the  com 
mittee,  "  I  told  you  he  would  make  a  damned  ingenious  ex 
cuse,  but  that  he  would  not  sign  the  pledge." 

While  dining  one  day  in  Washington  with  Mr.  Riggs  of 
the  Government  banking  firm  of  Corcoran  and  Riggs,  I  sat 
next  to  Baron  Steckel,  the  Russian  Minister,  who  said  to  me, 
lt  I  understand  from  Mr.  Riggs  that  you  are  intimate  with 
Mr.  Seymour  the  newly  elected  Governor  of  the  State  of  New 
York.  I  want  to  ask  a  favor  of  you.  My  master,  the  Czar, 
is  quite  disappointed  by  the  non-realization  of  Secretary 
Seward's  repeated  assurances  to  me  that  the  Civil  War  wrill 
be  over  in  sixty  days.  The  Czar  is,  therefore,  desirous  of 
having  a  reliable  opinion  from  an  experienced  statesman  like 
Governor  Seymour  of  New  York,  who  disregards  the  preju 
dices  of  both  parties  and  yet  has  the  popularity  to  be  elected 
the  Governor  of  the  greatest  and  most  powerful  State  in  the 
Union — in  spite  of  the  opposition  of  the  Federal  Government. 
Would  you  be  willing  to  go  to  Albany  and  lay  this  request  of 
the  Czar  before  the  Governor,  asking  him  for  a  confidential 
opinion  upon  the  subject?"  I  replied  that  while  I  did  not 
regard  myself  as  being  on  such  confidential  terms  with  the 
Governor  as  the  request  implied,  I  should  consider  myself 


196  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

honored  by  being  entrusted  with  such  a  mission  but  I  feared 
that  my  efforts  would  prove  as  unsatisfactory  to  himself  and 
the  Czar  as  the  promises  of  Mr.  Seward. 

On  reaching  Albany  I  called  on  the  Governor  in  the  Execu 
tive  Chamber  and  laid  before  him  the  request  of  the  Czar,  say 
ing,  "  Governor,  you  know  that  I  could  not  be  the  means  of 
asking  you  to  give  an  opinion  which  might,  by  being  published, 
conflict  with  your  interests,  and,  therefore,  I  have  jStated 
plainly  at  the  outset  the  object  of  my  visit;  now,  if  for  any 
reason  either  consent  or  refusal  to  express  an  opinion  would 
embarrass  you,  I  shall  simply  write  to  Baron  Steckel  declin 
ing  to  interview  you."  To  my  surprise  the  Governor  promptly 
said,  "  It  will  afford  me  pleasure  to  give  the  Czar  the  opinion 
he  desires.  It  is  a  rule  of  mine  to  express  my  opinion  un 
reservedly,  when  it  is  asked,  on  all  subjects  connected  with 
public  matters.  Go  into  my  private  office,  and,  as  soon  as  I 
despatch  some  official  business,  I  will  give  you  my  ideas  as 
to  the  permanence  of  the  Union.  However  long  the  struggle 
to  destroy  the  Union  may  be  maintained,  it  cannot  be  dissolved, 
for  reasons  I  will  make  clear  to  you."  When  the  Governor 
came  into  his  office  he  carried  in  his  hand  a  map  of  the 
United  States  which  he  hung  on  the  wall,  saying,  "  Suppose 
that  the  army  of  Lee  should  be  successful,  or  that  a  weak  ad 
ministration  in  Washington  should  be  ready  to  divide  the 
Union  with  the  Confederates ;  and  suppose  you  were  appointed 
to  run  the  line  of  division,  show  me  by  placing  a  pin  on  the 
map  where  you  would  start  it."  I  immediately  stuck  a  pin  in 
the  center  of  the  River  Ohio  between  the  State  of  Kentucky 
and  the  State  of  Ohio.  "  Here,"  said  I.  "  There  can  be  no 
safer  boundary  than  this  river.  Ohio  is  a  Northern  State, 
chiefly  settled  by  New  Englanders  and  by  Emancipationists. 
Kentucky,  on  the  other  hand,  is  a  slaveholding  Southern  State, 
settled  by  and  acting  with  the  extreme  class  of  Secessionists." 
The  Governor  here  broke  in,  saying,  "  But  you  reckon  without 
your  host.  The  Kentuckian  will  object  to  a  separation  from 
his  friends  across  the  river,  to  whom  he  is  not  hostile  and 
with  whom  property,  business,  and  family  ties  have  existed 


IN    WAR   TIME  197 

from  the  beginning."  "  Well,"  said  I,  "  we  will  draw  the 
line  south  of  Kentucky,  and  make  Kentucky  a  Northern 
State."  The  Governor  objected:  "Kentucky  is  not  only 
Southern  in  origin  and  feeling,  but  as  a  slaveholding  State 
would  not  willingly  join  the  Northern  Confederacy."  "  Then 
we  will  place  the  line  north  of  Ohio,"  said  I.  To  this  the 
Governor  also  objected:  "  The  people  of  Ohio  come  of  a  New 
England  Abolition  and  Puritanical  race  utterly  unwilling  to 
be  joined  with  slaveholders."  He  continued:  "  I  have  demon 
strated  to  you,  I  think,  on  the  map  of  our  country  the  im 
possibility  of  running  any  division  line  acceptable  to  the 
border  States.  A  reconstruction  into  two  independent  govern 
ments  is  quite  impossible.  The  wisdom  of  the  fathers  impelled 
them  to  constitute  a  federated  Union  in  which  every  institu 
tion  peculiar  to  each  State  was  to  be  respected.  The  viola 
tion  of  this  fundamental  principle  by  the  radical  element  of  the 
Northern  States  led  to  our  present  bloody  war.  Pride  of  opin 
ion,  based  on  sectional  prejudice,  has  intensified  the  war  spirit 
on  both  sides.  The  Union  must,  and  will  be,  preserved,  and 
war  is  now  the  only  means  to  that  end.  There  can  be  no 
reasonable  doubt  of  the  success  of  the  National  Government 
because  of  its  superior  resources  of  men  and  money,  of  mili 
tary  and  naval  equipment,  and  its  financial  credit.  But  the 
Southerners  are  of  the  same  bold,  persistent  blood  as  our 
selves,  and  he  would  be  a  wrise  prophet  who  could  fix  a  date 
for  the  end  of  such  a  conflict." 

I  regret  that  I  did  not  retain  a  copy  of  the  letter  in  which 
I  reproduced  for  the  Russian  Minister  this  interesting  reason 
ing  of  the  Governor,  much  of  which  has  now  escaped  my  mem 
ory.  I  learned  afterwards,  through  my  friend  Mr.  Riggs, 
that  my  letter  was  sent  to  the  Czar  and  filed  as  an  important 
opinion  on  the  American  Civil  War,  coming,  as  it  did,  from 
so  distinguished  a  source  as  Governor  Seymour. 

In  the  spring  of  1863  I  crossed  the  Atlantic  in  company 
with  Mr.  Wm.  M.  Evarts  and  Mr.  William  H.  Aspinwall— 
my  object  being  the  establishment  of  a  foreign  agency  of  the 
4'  Great  Western."  It  was  said  that  these  two  gentlemen  and 


198  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

a  distinguished  merchant  and  political  leader  of  Boston  who 
met  them  in  London  were  sent  by  our  Government  to  con 
sult  with  our  Minister,  Mr.  Adams,  on  the  best  mode  of  pre 
venting  the  illegal  fitting-out  in  England  of  Confederate 
privateers  as  contrary  to  international  comity  if  not  to  in 
ternational  law.  Whether  this  was  true  or  not,  they  were 
received  with  marked  social  and  semi-official  courtesies. 

I  was  invited,  as  the  friend  and  traveling  companion  of 
Mr.  Aspinwall  and  Mr.  Evarts,  to  participate  in  most  of  the 
hospitalities  extended  to  them. 

The  day  after  our  arrival  in  London,  James  McHenry,  the 
banker,  called ;  and  for  some  time  thereafter  his  fine  carriage 
with  its  liveried  coachman  attended  daily  to  drive  us  in  the 
park  and  to  the  various  places  to  which  my  companions  de 
sired  to  go.  We  also  received  handsomely  engraved  cards  of 
invitation  to  a  grand  dinner  to  be  given  by  Mr.  McHenry 
at  Oak  Cottage,  his  fine  villa  in  a  part  of  the  Holland  Park 
which  he  had  been  able  to  procure  in  spite  of  the  English  sen 
timent  against  breaking  up  the  estates  of  the  aristocracy.  As 
these  invitations  were  sent  out  nearly  a  month  ahead,  I  wras 
able  to  make  quite  a  tour  on  the  Continent,  and  still  return  in 
time  for  the  dinner. 

In  Paris  I  accompanied  to  the  confectioner's  the  courier  who 
had  Mr.  McHenry's  orders  to  fill  for  the  dinner.  The  con 
fections  ordered  bore  Mr.  McHenry's  monogram  on  each 
piece,  and  were  put  up  in  beautiful  baskets  which  alone  cost 
fifty  francs. 

The  dinner  was  an  affair  of  great  dignity  in  all  respects. 
The  dining  room  was  finished  with  onyx  and  other  polished 
stones,  and  the  gaslight  was  toned  down  by  cut  glass  panels 
inserted  in  the  ceiling.  The  table  linen  was  specially  manu 
factured  for  Mr.  McHenry,  and  had  his  monogram  woven  into 
it.  The  under  cover  was  of  rich  blue  velvet.  The  finger  bowls, 
which  were  of  cut  glass  and  silver,  also  bore  his  monogram, 
and  contained  a  clock-work  machine  which  projected  a  spray 
perfumed  with  attar  of  roses.  The  baskets  of  confections 
already  referred  to  were  presented  to  the  ladies  after  they  left 


IN    WAR   TIME  199 

the  table,  at  the  drawing  room  door,  by  their  escorts.  I  met 
here  the  editor  of  the  London  Times  and  the  president  of  the 
Bank  of  England,  and  other  financiers,  as  well  as  a  number  of 
distinguished  Americans. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  this  dinner  had  a  financial  ob 
ject,  and  one  of  the  most  favored  guests  informed  me  years 
after  that  it  cost  him  a  $30,000  loss  by  an  investment  made 
the  next  day  in  railway  debentures. 

Mr.  McHenry  was  a  man  of  pleasing  manners,  and  pos 
sessed  a  wonderful  faculty  for  interesting  capitalists  in  the 
issues  of  stocks  or  bonds  in  which  he  was  himself  interested. 
Many  of  these  investments  proved  unfortunate  for  his  friends ; 
but  his  integrity  was  never  doubted,  however  much  his  j fig 
ment  was  called  in  question  and  his  persuasive  quality 
dreaded. 

I  may  remark  here  in  passing  that  during  this  my  first 
sojourn  in  England  I  was  elected  an  honorary  member  of  the 
Committee  of  Lloyds,  and  made  an  address  before  that  body 
on  the  origin  and  growth  of  marine  insurance. 

In  Manchester  I  was  the  guest  of  Thomas  Fielding,  the 
head  of  one  of  the  largest  combined  manufacturing  and 
banking  firms  of  Great  Britain.  At  the  earnest  solicitation  of 
Mr.  Fielding  and  his  friends,  I  delivered  the  following  ad 
dress,  on  the  nth  of  May,  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
of  that  city : 

"  GENTLEMEN  OF  THE  CHAMBER  OF  COMMERCE  OF  MAN 
CHESTER  : 

u  I  appreciate  most  highly  the  compliment  you  pay  me  as 
an  individual,  and  still  more  as  a  merchant  and  a  member  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce  of  New  York,  in  asking  me  to  ad 
dress  you. 

"  The  sympathies  engendered  by  commercial  and  industrial 
pursuits  not  only  overleap  national  boundaries,  but  dispel  the 
prejudices  of  race  and  of  forms  of  government.  International 
commerce  tends  to  the  suppression  of  war,  and  helps  powerfully 
to  spread  the  gospel  of  peace  and  good  will  to  men. 


200  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  War,  civil  and  foreign,  is  too  often  due  to  the  intrigues 
of  ambitious  leaders  who  devote  their  energies  to  rousing  the 
passions  and  prejudices  of  the  people,  rather  than  to  instilling 
into  their  minds  practical  views  of  the  public  interest.  A 
review  of  the  history  of  modern  domestic  revolutions  and  of 
international  contests,  with  all  their  bloody  victories  and  de 
feats,  demonstrates  that  even  the  victories  have  rarely  yielded 
as  much  substantial  advantage  as  could  have  been  secured  by 
civil  reform  and  by  judicious  foreign  negotiations.  In  your 
own  modern  history  the  most  permanent  reforms  have  come 
from  legislation  and  diplomacy. 

"  The  Civil  War  in  my  own  country  is  one  of  the  most 
needless  and  unjustifiable  of  which  it  is  possible  to  conceive. 
A  cultivated  and  prosperous  section  of  our  country  has 
staked  its  all  on  a  causeless  rebellion  against  a  friendly  gov 
ernment  of  great  power  and  boundless  resources.  The  Se 
cession  leaders  who  were  enjoying  dignified  posts  under  the 
national  government  have  not  only  risked  the  prestige  of  these 
positions,  but  they  have  staked  on  the  issue  of  war  the  very 
institution  of  slavery  which  they  pretend  to  desire  to  protect 
against  possible  adverse  civil  legislation ;  and  this  in  the 
face  of  the  direct  and  unqualified  assurance  of  the  party  in 
power  and  the  official  declaration  of  the  President  that  slavery 
is  protected  by  the  Constitution  and  is  considered  by  them 
inviolable.  It  is  the  power  of  the  United  States  alone  which 
guarantees  the  permanence  of  slave  property  to  the  South.  It 
is  not  to  be  disguised  that  the  whole  civilized  world,  with  or 
without  reason,  is  arrayed  against  slavery,  nor  is  it  to  be 
disguised  that  our  government  is  the  only  barrier  against 
emancipation ;  and  if  this  civil  war  could  succeed  in  establish 
ing  a  government  '  founded  on  slavery  '  the  edifice  would  be 
of  a  very  ephemeral  nature. 

"  It  is  the  election  of  Mr.  Lincoln,  the  candidate  of  the 
Republican  Party,  to  the  Presidency  which  is  now  adduced 
as  the  chief  reason  for  attempting  to  destroy  the  Union,  and 
for  plunging  the  country  into  the  horrors  of  civil  war.  The 
Secessionists  adduce  no  positive  grievance  to  justify  war; 


IN    WAR   TIME  201 

they  only  claim  that  this  success  of  a  political  party  is  a 
menace  to  their  institution  of  slavery.  Now  the  Constitution 
is  a  complete  and  effectual  barrier  against  emancipation.  Fur 
thermore,  the  Supreme  Court  and  the  Senate  are  in  full  sym 
pathy  with  these  rights  of  the  South  and  would  oppose  any 
attempt  to  legislate  in  emancipation.  Finally,  Mr.  Lincoln,  in 
his  inaugural  address,  not  only  asserted  in  the  most  solemn 
and  unqualified  language  his  own  personal  and  official  want 
of  power  or  desire  to  interfere  with  slavery,  but  he  pointed  out 
that  the  party  platform  upon  which  he  was  elected  proclaimed 
the  same  sentiments.  Indeed  the  great  body  of  the  North, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  fanatics  of  the  Eastern  States 
(men  of  but  limited  influence)  were  active  in  advocating 
measures  of  fraternal  consideration.  A  Peace  Congress  em 
bracing  leading  men  of  all  parties  was  convened  at  Wash 
ington.  Public  meetings  were  held  in  the  Northern  cities, 
for  the  purpose  of  assuring  the  South  that  their  constitutional 
rights  would  be  preserved  in  the  future  as  they  had  been  in 
the  past.  At  one  of  these  meetings  called  in  Pine  Street,  New 
York  City,  which  was  attended  by  prominent  citizens  from 
all  parts  of  the  State  of  New  York,  a  fraternal  '  Address  ' 
to  the  South  was  unanimously  voted  pledging  the  support  of 
the  State  to  the  defense  of  Southern  rights  under  the  Con 
stitution,  and  appealing  to  the  patriotism  of  the  Southern 
people  against  the  contemplated  rupture  of  the  Union.  A 
commission  of  which  I  had  the  honor  of  being  a  member, 
was  appointed  to  bear  this  '  Address  '  to  the  Governors  of 
the  Southern  States.  While  on  this  mission,  I  observed  that 
in  all  the  cities  the  merchants  and  business  men  who  were 
not  under  a  kind  of  social  or  political  duress,  were  averse  to 
the  secession  which  the  political  leaders  were  championing. 
Indeed,  I  found  that  the  enthusiasm  for  secession  was  largely 
a  manufactured  sentiment  which  quiet  citizens  feared  to  com 
bat  under  the  menace  of  being  ostracised  in  social  and  even 
in  business  circles.  The  business  men,  the  most  stable  element 
of  the  South,  were  not,  at  heart,  favorable  to  Secession  then 
and  surely  nothing  has  occurred  since  to  induce  them  to  aban- 


202  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

don  their  Union  sentiments  in  favor  of  civil  war.  Whether 
the  conflict  be  long  or  short,  the  Union  idea  will  ultimately 
prevail,  and  the  war  instead  of  destroying  the  Union  will  dem 
onstrate  its  capacity  to  enforce  its  laws  and  maintain  the  in 
tegrity  of  its  domain. 

"  In  your  own  contests  with  Scotland,  the  conditions  were 
quite  different,  since  the  incentives  to  war  were  questions 
of  border  strife  in  which  depredations,  cattle  stealing  and 
castle  burning  played  a  large  part.  In  our  case,  two  little 
States,  South  Carolina  and  Massachusetts,  situated  many 
hundred  miles  apart,  have  caused  all  the  trouble — Massachu 
setts  having  succeeded  by  fanatical  and  sectional  appeals  in 
making  South  Carolina  believe  its  vested  and  legal  rights  were 
being  interfered  with,  and  South  Carolina  having  allowed  its 
natural  resentment  to  take  on  a  form  as  unfortunate  and  un 
lawful  as  the  provocation.  Could  these  pugnacious  little  States 
be  removed  to  the  middle  of  the  ocean  and  left  there  to  fight 
it  out — like  the  famed  Kilkenny  cats  which  fought,  we  are 
told,  till  only  their  tails  were  left — the  peace,  union  and  safety 
of  our  country  would  be  assured,  since  the  great  body  of  the 
people  of  the  country  have  no  sympathy  with  the  practices  or 
doctrines  of  either  of  these  extreme  schools  of  thought.  The 
Union  is  a  strong  passion  as  well  as  a  reasoned  sentiment ;  and 
the  life  of  the  nation  transcends  all  discussion  of  abstract 
doctrines. 

"  In  our  Constitution  (probably  the  most  perfect  organic  law 
ever  devised  for  the  protection  of  liberty  and  especially  for  the 
protection  of  the  rights  of  federated  States),  not  one  sentence 
is  to  be  found  which  could  be  tortured  into  giving  any  State 
the  right  to  withdraw.  A  Supreme  Court  is  provided  which 
is  adequate  to  redress  legally  all  grievences  of  individuals 
and  of  States ;  and  even  John  C.  Calhoun,  the  eminent  advocate 
and  interpreter  of  Southern  constitutional  rights,  always 
claimed  that  the  only  tribunal  competent  under  the  Constitu 
tion  to  afford  relief  against  violations  of  constitutional  rights, 
was  that  of  a  national  convention  representing  the  sovereign 
people  of  the  whole  country,  from  whom  the  Constitution  was 


IN    WAR   TIME  203 

originally  derived.  In  his  letter  to  the  legislature  of  South 
Carolina,  he  not  only  cautioned  against  secession,  but  said 
plainly  that  no  nation  has  ever  been  ruptured  by  civil  war, 
though  many  nations  have  lost  their  liberty  thereby.  State 
Rights  were  advocated  by  this  great  Southern  statesman  for 
the  protection  in  the  Union  of  the  States  against  possible  party 
or  sectional  domination,  not  in  any  manner  as  a  lever  with 
which  to  overthrow  the  government  or  as  a  justification  of 
disloyalty  to  the  Union. 

"  The  right  of  the  people  to  abolish  their  form  of  government, 
affirmed  by  our  Declaration  of  Independence,  is  after  all  but 
the  right  of  revolution  and  in  our  revolt  against  the  British 
crown  by  which  our  national  independence  was  achieved  our 
justification  was  primarily  the  actual  and  oppressive  grievance 
of  taxation  without  representation  so  repugnant  to  every 
British  freeman. 

"  Scotland,  in  1713  (only  seven  years  after  the  confederation 
of  kingdoms  had  been  accomplished),  had  become  dissatisfied 
with  the  form  of  taxation  adopted  by  the  Parliament.  The 
Scottish  people  clamored  for  a  dissolution  of  the  union.  Un 
like  the  Southern  Secessionists,  however,  they  did  not  fall 
back  on  the  sovereignty  of  their  nation ;  instead,  they  urged 
the  unequal  and  unfair  taxation  to  which  they  were  subjected 
as  a  reason  for  their  desire  to  dissolve  the  union.  Their  repre 
sentative  statesmen  met  and  deliberated  and  sent  a  conservative 
committee  to  lay  their  grievances  before  the  Queen ;  and,  when 
the  National  Parliament  assembled,  one  of  the  members  moved 
in  the  House  of  Lords  that  leave  be  given  to  bring  in  a  bill 
to  dissolve  the  Union.  The  bill  was  discussed,  Scotland  had 
a  hearing  and  a  vote,  and  so  had  England.  The  vital  interests 
of  both  sides  were  considered  with  a  gravity  and  conservatism 
which  led  to  mutual  concessions,  and  the  British  union  was 
saved. 

"  Now,  gentlemen,  a  similar  patriotic  course  might  have  been 
followed  in  our  sectional  controversy  and,  if  it  had  been  fol 
lowed,  it  would  have  produced  a  similar  result.  Debate  brings 
out  truth  and  exposes  the  error,  selfishness  and  fraud,  which 


204  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

always  lurk  in  sectional  political  controversies.  So  well  was  it 
known  that  Union  sentiment  prevailed  all  over  the  country, 
even  at  the  South,  that  the  leaders  of  the  Secession  agitation 
discouraged  every  Northern  effort  at  conciliation  and  compro 
mise. 

"  This  slaveholders'  rebellion  has  no  claim  upon  the  sympathy 
of  the  world.  The  South  has  no  practical  grievance  to  be  re 
dressed  against  the  government  which  was  made  perpetual  by 
the  consent  of  the  people.  It  promises  no  advantages  to  inter 
national  trade  by  way  of  compensation  for  the  damage  it  has 
already  inflicted  upon  it.  Surely  the  petty  and  revolutionary 
republics  to  the  south  of  us  neither  favor  the  spread  of  civiliza 
tion  nor  stimulate  commerce.  The  success  of  this  rebellion 
would  justify  the  disintegration  of  the  so-called  Confederacy 
itself,  and  we  should  have  on  our  continent  perpetual  civil  tur 
moils  like  those  of  South  America. 

"  I  will  not  undervalue  the  grave  nature  of  the  conflict ;  it  is 
no  ninety-day  affair  as  some  of  our  too  enthusiastic  Federal 
officials  have  announced.  We  are  confronted  by  American  sol 
diers  led  by  officers  trained  in  our  own  military  schools,  brave, 
skillful,  and  enthusiastic,  as  members  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  race 
always  are ;  and  Secession  will  be  defended  with  a  vigor  worthy 
of  a  better  cause. 

"  The  Secession  movement  appealed  immediately  to  the  young 
Southerners  of  military  habits  and  propensities  who  at  once 
filled  the  Confederate  armies  with  the  best  blood  of  the  section. 
The  Southern  military  leaders  are  mainly  officers  who  re 
signed  from  the  Federal  army  after  having  received  their  edu 
cation  at  the  public  expense.  In  fact,  the  majority  of  the 
pupils  in  our  Military  and  Naval  Schools  were  Southerners, 
because  our  Northern  young  men  preferred  professional  and 
business  careers  to  public  careers.  The  early  recruits  of  the 
Northern  army  consisted  largely  of  foreigners  and  the  lower 
class  of  natives  who  enlisted  chiefly  for  the  wages ;  and  the 
Northern  officers  were  relatively  untrained,  with  the  exception 
of  a  few  officers  of  the  peace  establishment  of  the  regular 


IN    WAR   TIME  205 

army  and  a  few  from  the  uniformed  militia  regiments  of  the 
cities.  This  mere  mob,  unenthusiastic  and  untrained,  had 
against  it  well-drilled  and  enthusiastic  forces. 

"  Military  movements  on  the  part  of  the  people  in  the  North, 
as  on  the  part  of  the  National  government,  were  discouraged 
up  to  the  actual  rebel  attack  on  Fort  Sumter,  which  awoke  the 
North.  The  early  defeats  at  Bull  Run  and  at  other  places, 
opened  the  eyes  of  the  Northern  people  to  the  urgent  need  of 
a  disciplined  army.  A  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war  for 
the  Union  became  the  cry  of  all  the  parties  there  and  already 
the  Union  army  is  achieving  notable  success. 

"  The  Confederacy  is  sadly  lacking,  as  compared  with  the 
United  States,  in  the  sinews  of  war  (money  and  credit).  It 
can  expect  no  help  from  foreign  sources  by  reason  of  the  ef 
fective  blockade  of  all  its  ports,  for  it  is  quite  improbable  that 
any  foreign  nation  will  care  to  become  involved  in  war  with  our 
country  by  attempting  to  interfere  with  local  affairs,  in  which 
they  can  have  no  proper  concern.  Our  armies  can  be  recruited 
to  any  extent  from  foreign  sources  as  well  as  from  our  own 
population ;  and  the  latter  are  now  zealous  to  conquer  and  re 
store  the  Union.  The  Confederate  army,  on  the  other  hand, 
by  its  very  reckless  gallantry  in  the  early  battles,  has  in  every 
victory  as  well  as  in  every  defeat  sacrificed  the  best  blood  of 
the  South.  The  Southerners  who  stayed  at  home  in  the  be 
ginning  by  reason  of  age  and  general  incapacity  are  now  being 
called  into  the  ranks,  and  it  has  been  well  said  that  to  obtain 
troops  the  Confederates  are  robbing  the  cradle  and  the  grave. 
This  conscription  to  fill  the  army,  the  despotic  action  necessary 
to  its  enforcement,  the  enormous  rise  in  the  price  of  every  ne 
cessity  of  life,  the  worthless  character  of  Confederate  money  as 
a  purchasing  medium,  and  the  entire  paralysis  of  nearly  every 
kind  of  business  enterprise,  are  producing  widespread  dis 
content  among  the  suffering  people  who  have  no  slaves.  When 
our  forces  capture  a  town  or  city,  they  bring  relief  to  the  plain 
people  by  furnishing  lucrative  employment.  Supplies  hitherto 
shut  out  flow  in  from  all  sides  and  may  be  had  at  reasonable 


206  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

prices;  full  and  free  restoration  to  the  rights  of  citizenship 
with  no  penalty  or  confiscation  of  property  is  granted  to  all 
who  pledge  their  allegiance  to  the  Union. 

"  When  the  Confederate  soldier  asks  himself,  in  the  light  of 
these  generous  overtures  of  our  armies,  for  what  he  is  fighting 
in  the  rebel  ranks,  and  for  what  he  is  subjecting  himself,  his 
wife  and  his  children  to  a  lack  of  the  necessaries  of  life  as  well 
as  to  the  possible  loss  of  their  main  support,  he  is  at  a  loss 
for  an  answer. 

''  The  liberal  and  wise  policy  of  our  conquering  army  is 
developing  confidence  in  the  Government  of  the  Union,  and 
is  paving  the  way  for  the  spread  of  loyal  feelings. 

'*  The  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  Union  flag  will  again 
float  over  the  entire  country,  and  the  Constitutional  rights  of 
all  will  be  secured — on  the  one  hand,  against  the  meddling 
abolitionists  of  the  North,  and,  on  the  other,  against  the  reck 
less  and  rebellious  slaveholders  of  the  South.  This,  gentle 
men,  is  the  prophecy  of  a  Southern  merchant  who  is  a  pro- 
slavery  and  State  Rights  man  from  sentiment  and  a  Union  man 
from  conviction.  I  believe  that  both  slavery  and  State  Rights 
can  and  will  be  preserved  only  under  the  Constitution  and 
through  the  power  of  our  National  Union." 

This  speech  evidently  produced  some  uneasiness  on  the  part 
of  a  portion  of  my  audience,  who  called  on  me  the  next  morn 
ing  and  told  me  candidly  that  they  were  bondholders  of  the 
Confederacy,  but  held  cotton  as  security.  I  inquired  where 
the  cotton  was  stored.  "  In  Savannah  and  Charleston,"  they 
said,  and  added,  "  We  have  relied  on  international  war  usage. 
Even  if  these  cities  are  captured,  the  property  of  foreigners 
will  be  respected."  I  explained  to  them  that  the  important 
defect  in  their  reasoning  lay  in  the  fact  that  the  war  in 
America  was  not  a  war  between  nations,  but  was  simply  re 
bellion,  and  that  a  lender  to  the  rebels  stood  in  the  same  rela 
tion  to  the  U.  S.  Government  as  the  rebel  borrower.  The 
Government  could  not,  of  course,  reach  and  punish  the  foreign 
lender  for  promoting  rebellion  and  bloodshed  in  America,  but 


IN    WAR   TIME  207 

the  property  pledges  would  be  confiscated  like  guns  or  any 
other  instruments  of  warfare.  They  then  said,  "  What  would 
you  advise  us  to  do?"  "Sell  out  to  other  sympathisers,"  I 
answered,  "  or  run  the  blockade  with  your  fastest  steamers  if 
you  can."  They  left,  good  naturedly  remarking  that  I  was 
a  sort  of  Job's  comforter  to  them. 

In  Edinburgh  I  was  the  guest  of  Sir  James  Simpson 
(then  Professor  of  Medicine  in  the  University  of  Edinburgh), 
who  is  credited  with  the  discovery  of  the  ansesthetical  proper 
ties  of  chloroform;  and  at  a  public  dinner,  which  he  had  the 
courtesy  to  offer  me,  I  gave  a  talk  by  request  on  slavery  and 
the  issues  involved  in  our  Civil  W^ar. 

During  my  visit  to  Sir  James  I  met  several  men  from  the 
University  who  were  largely  interested,  as  was  Sir  James  him 
self,  in  archaeology,  and  I  accompanied  them  on  a  visit  to  one 
of  the  caves  in  which  Scotland  abounds.  We  entered  its  mouth 
at  the  village  of  Kitcardy  by  crawling  on  our  hands  and  knees, 
and  soon  found  ourselves  in  a  natural  arched  chamber,  about 
ten  feet  high.  This  chamber  had  a  curious  ceiling  covered 
with  hieroglyphics  of  scenic  character,  which  these  archaeolog 
ical  students  copied  by  means  of  tracings  on  cotton  sheeting 
held  up  against  the  stone  ceiling,  and  which  I  have  since  had 
the  pleasure  of  seeing  reproduced  in  print.  I  have  a  particular 
reverence  for  this  little  fishing  village  of  Kitcardy,  because  it 
was  here  that  the  celebrated  Adam  Smith  wrote  his  great 
work  on  political  economy. 

Sir  James  related  in  my  hearing  a  curious  incident  which 
goes  to  show  the  danger  of  empiricism  in  science.  He  had, 
it  seems,  among  his  students,  a  very  studious  and  bright  young 
doctor  whom  he  was  in  the  habit  of  trusting  during  his  ab 
sence  from  the  city  to  visit  such  of  his  patients  as  had  the 
less  dangerous  types  of  disease.  On  returning  (after  one  of 
these  absences)  from  Paris,  whither  he  had  gone  to  treat  the 
Empress  Eugenie,  his  assistant  resigned  his  position  and  es 
tablished  himself  as  a  homeopathic  physician  in  Edinburgh. 
To  make  his  desertion  from  the  doctrines  of  the  University 
of  Edinburgh  and  the  teachings  of  his  master  more  offensive, 


208  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

he  wrote  a  very  clever  vindication  of  his  new  theories  in  which 
he  recited  the  cause  of  his  conversion  to  the  doctrines  of 
Hahnemann.  He  said  that  while  visiting  the  patients  en 
trusted  to  his  care  he  determined  to  apply,  with  a  view  to 
demonstrating  the  fallacy  of  homeopathy,  the  little  homeo 
pathic  pellets  in  cases  where  the  trial  could  not  endanger  the 
patient.  He  found  ready  to  his  hand  in  Sir  James'  study 
a  little  cabinet  on  the  shelves  of  which  were  ranged  the  homeo 
pathic  remedies  put  up  in  small,  neatly  labeled  vials.  To  his 
surprise  every  remedy  he  applied  effected  a  cure.  Being  un 
able  to  combat  the  evidence  of  his  own  senses,  he  was  com 
pelled  to  embrace  a  system  so  successful,  even  if  its  doctrines 
did  conflict  with  the  science  which  he  had  spent  so  much 
time  and  study  to  acquire. 

This  put  a  heavy  strain  on  the  friendship  and  esteem  which 
Sir  James  had  hitherto  entertained  and  expressed  for  his  able 
pupil,  but  Sir  James  was  equal  to  the  emergency.  He  wrote 
an  exhaustive  and  convincing  argument,  exposing  the  fallacy 
of  homeopathy.  After  praising  highly  the  capacity  of  the 
young  doctor  and  the  progress  he  had  made  in  his  profession, 
he  declared  that  he  had  fallen  a  victim  to  an  over-hasty  in 
vestigation.  He  then  explained  that  he  had  rendered  a  sur 
gical  service  to  a  cabinet  maker's  wife,  and  had  declined 
to  accept  any  compensation  from  this  hard-working  mechanic, 
who  had  a  large  family;  that  the  cabinet  maker,  wishing  to 
show  his  gratitude,  had  presented  his  little  son  with  a  hand 
some  small  mahogany  cabinet  of  his  own  make,  representing  an 
apothecary's  case,  with  shelves  of  artistic  design,  glass  doors, 
and  a  polished  slab  of  marble  to  represent  a  counter ;  and  that 
to  complete  the  illusion  he  had  stocked  the  shelves  with  the 
usual  little  vials  bearing  in  gold  letters  the  names  of  the  homeo 
pathic  remedies. 

This  cabinet  was  set  up  in  Sir  James'  study  to  please  the 
boy,  who  opened,  mingled,  and  dispensed  the  treasures  of  his 
drug  shop,  as  he  named  it,  almost  every  day.  If  he  was  called 
by  his  mother  to  get  ready  for  school  or  a  walk,  he  was  re 
quired  to  fill  up  the  bottles  and  place  them  in  order  on  the 


IN    WAR   TIME  209 

shelves  again.  The  boy  had  amused  himself  thus  for  many 
months,  when  Sir  James  was  called  to  visit  Paris  profession 
ally.  Such  were  the  curative  mixtures  which  an  honest  searcher 
after  professional  knowledge  found  so  efficacious  that  he  was 
persuaded  to  ignore  not  only  the  knowledge  he  had  hitherto 
acquired  himself,  but  the  accumulated  knowledge  of  the  medi 
cal  profession. 

The  following  batch  of  letters  gives  a  synopsis  of  feelings 
and  opinions  in  England  in  the  spring  of  1863 : 

"  LONDON,  Apr.  10,  1863. 
"  JOHN  A.  PARKER,  ESQ.,  New  York. 

''Dear  Sir: — I  had  a  confidential  interview  this  morning 
with  our  secretary  of  legation,  Mr.  Charles  L.  Wilson,  who 
has  given  me  a  letter  of  introduction  to  our  London  Consul, 
Hon.  Furman  H.  Morse,  for  a  further  conference  on  the  sub 
ject  of  the  rebel  privateers.  These  gentlemen,  with  Mr.  Dud 
ley,  our  Consul  at  Liverpool,  and  other  consuls  in  the  United 
Kingdom,  have  been  very  zealous  in  ferreting  out  these  priva 
teering  expeditions,  and  our  Minister,  Mr.  Adams,  is  con 
tinually  urging  the  English  Government  to  put  a  stop  to  these 
nefarious  practices.  I  am  led  to  believe  that  the  Government 
is  disposed  to  be  more  active  than  it  has  been  and  I  have  now 
some  hope  that  the  law  officers  of  the  Crown  will  in  good 
faith  try  to  hold  the  Alexandria,  for  our  proofs  will,  we 
think,  be  very  conclusive  against  her.  You  will  see  that  the 
London  Times  and  other  papers  have  published  detailed  ac 
counts  of  a  correspondence  by  telegraph  between  Mr.  Dudley 
and  Mr.  Adams,  relative  to  the  steamer  Japan.  This  corre 
spondence  is  a  fabrication  from  beginning  to  end.  No  such 
communications  passed  in  any  form.  Our  consul  at  Greenock 
or  Glasgow  (or  both)  fully  advised  the  Legation  here,  as 
long  ago  as  January,  of  the  purpose  of  this  vessel,  and  Mr. 
Adams  had  the  same  information  from  other  sources;  but 
the  fact  is,  legal  proofs  could  not  be  obtained  to  justify  her 
seizure,  and  she  suddenly,  as  I  wrote  you  in  my  last,  got  her 
crew  (eighty  men  from  Liverpool)  and  proceeded  to  sea. 


210  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

There  was  no  cutter  or  other  armed  vessel  sent  to  intercept 
the  Japan.  She  simply  got  her  crew  and  pointed  out  to  sea; 
and  therefore  the  officials  here  seemed  not  to  be  chargeable 
with  any  blunder.  They  were  simply  unable  to  effect  a  great 
public  good  and  render  an  essential  service  to  our  commerce, 
because  with  the  most  persevering  industry  they  could  not  ob 
tain  tangible  evidence. 

"  It  would  be  well  (as  a  matter  of  justice  to  parties  here 
whose  untiring  efforts  in  favor  of  the  national  Government 
ought  to  be  appreciated  at  home)  to  give  an  abstract  from  the 
above  to  the  Post  and  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  so  that 
the  contradiction  may  appear  at  the  same  time  that  the  ex 
tracts  from  the  fictitious  correspondence  I  have  referred  to  find 
their  way  into  our  journals.  It  has  not  been  deemed  judicious 
to  correct  officially  these  paragraphs  here,  but  no  stone  is  left 
unturned  to  ferret  out  rebel  enterprises.  The  former  purser 
of  the  Alabama  is  now  here,  having  taken  the  oath  of  alle 
giance,  and  is  co-operating  with  the  Legation.  His  testimony, 
in  certain  cases  soon  to  be  investigated  in  the  Courts,  will 
be  most  valuable.  He  is  kept  in  hiding  so  that  his  appearance 
in  Court  will  be  the  first  intimation  his  old  confederates  will 
have  that  he  is  to  reply  to  their  testimony.  Please  use  this 
information  with  great  caution,  as  it  would  be  a  serious  matter 
should  it  reach  the  Secessionists  before  the  proper  time.  It 
is  hoped  that  some  of  these  people,  under  his  testimony,  will 
be  liable  to  a  criminal  prosecution  under  the  English  laws. 
He  has  satisfied  the  Legation  that  the  Florida  and  the  Ala 
bama  have  agreed  to  rendezvous  at  the  Western  Islands  and 
thence  to  co-operate  against  our  commerce  on  the  English 
coast,  destroying  all  our  ships  bound  for  English  ports,  and 
making  a  special  demonstration  against  our  New  York  and 
Philadelphia  packets.  Mr.  Adams  has  already  apprised  our 
government  of  these  things,  having  been  able  even  to  detail 
the  signals  agreed  upon ;  the  statements  of  the  Alabama's 
purser  have  been  confirmed  to  a  great  extent  by  information 
derived  from  other  reliable  quarters.  .  .  . 

"  Very  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS. 


IN    WAR   TIME  211 

"  I  spent  the  evening  yesterday  with  Mr.  W.  H.  Aspinwall, 
and  on  Monday  I  have  an  interview  with  Mr.  Adams,  at  ten 
o'clock." 

"  LONDON,  April  I5th,  1863. 
"  JOHN  A.  PARKER,  ESQ.,  New  York, 

"Dear  Sir: — Mr.  Adams,  our  Minister,  called  on  me  yes 
terday  and  I  regret  I  was  not  at  the  hotel.  I  afterwards  had 
a  long  conversation  with  the  Secretary  of  Legation,  and  Mr. 
Dudley,  our  Consul  at  Liverpool,  on  the  subject  of  the  armed 
privateers  now  being  fitted  out  in  England.  We  are  most 
hopeful  of  being  able  to  hold  the  Alexandria,  and  Mr. 
Adams  informed  me  a  few  days  since  that  he  thinks  the 
British  Government  is  more  disposed  to  do  its  duty  in  this 
respect  than  it  has  hitherto  been.  I  heard  him  remark  that 
such  speeches  as  General  Butler's  and  many  of  the  radical 
and  abusive  editorials  of  the  same  kind  are  embarrassing  to 
all  those  who  are  exerting  themselves  to  maintain  pleasant 
relations  with  Great  Britain,  and  trying  to  counteract  the  dan 
gerous  machinations  of  the  rebel  faction  whose  sole  business 
here  seems  to  be  to  get  our  Government  into  a  foreign  war. 
Besides,  negotiations  of  a  delicate  nature  are  never  well  car 
ried  on  by  a  representative  of  an  abusive  constituency.  Mr. 
Adams  informs  me  that  during  his  two  years'  mission  he 
has  not  once  had  occasion  for  the  least  warmth  of  temper, 
nor  has  Lord  John  Russell,  and  yet  we  know  that  they  have 
dealt  with  very  trying  and  delicate  questions.  The  result  is 
that  Mr.  Adams'  discreet,  active  and  judicious  defense  of  our 
rights  is  yielding  fruit,  and  has  thus  far  foiled  every  effort  of 
the  Secession.  ...  "  Very  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

"  LONDON,  May  5th,   1863. 
"  J.  A.  PARKER,  ESQ.,  New  York, 

"Dear  Sir: — I  am  favored  with  yours  of  the  2ist,  which  I 
have  read  with  great  satisfaction.  I  note  your  remarks  on  the 
subject  of  our  diplomatic  relations.  You  will  be  glad  to  learn 
that  they  have  now  assumed  more  satisfactory  shape,  and  it  is 


212  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

generally  conceded  that  there  will  be  no  rupture  between  the 
governments.  The  longer  I  am  in  England  and  the  more  I 
mix  with  the  substantial  people,  the  more  I  am  satisfied  that 
the  Secession  element  is  losing  ground  here;  their  influence 
is  on  the  wane.  I  have  had  the  pleasure  of  meeting  a  great 
many  of  the  manufacturers,  bankers  and  merchants  in  Lon 
don,  Liverpool  and  the  district  around  Manchester,  and  I 
have  uniformly  found  that  these  gentlemen  seem  pleased  to 
have  any  of  the  Secession  arguments  proved  to  be  fallacious. 
The  fact  is  that  the  Secessionists  have  been  very  active,  and,  as 
there  was  no  one  here  to  expose  their  fallacies,  they  have  had 
much  sympathy  for  wrongs  which  have  never  existed,  and  have 
laid  claims  to  remedies  which  our  Constitution  does  not  justify. 
One  very  intelligent  manufacturer  of  Manchester  at  a  dinner 
party  there,  asked  me  if  '  each  State  had  a  constitutional  right 
to  withdraw  from  the  Union  at  pleasure  with  or  without 
cause.'  I  replied  '  Just  as  much  right  as  Ireland  has  to  with 
draw  from  the  United  Kingdom.'  And  I  then  asked  him,  for 
the  benefit  of  the  company,  whether  he  thought  the  Parlia 
ment  now  in  session  would  permit  Scotland  or  Ireland  to  with 
draw  from  its  national  connection  with  England  because  a 
religious  faith  different  from  that  of  the  majority  of  the  Irish 
and  Scotch  people  was  established  by  law.  '  Slavery  and  anti- 
slavery/  I  added,  '  are  not  more  antagonistic  to  one  another 
than  are  the  English  State  Church  and  Romanism  or  even 
Presbyterianism ;  nor  was  the  Union  any  more  in  the  way  of 
the  peaceful  existence  of  slavery  in  the  South  than  the  national 
faith  of  Great  Britain  is  in  the  way  of  the  dissenting  faiths  of 
the  other  two  parts  of  the  United  Kingdom.'  My  interlocutor 
then  urged  the  non-enforcement  of  the  fugitive  slave  law  by  the 
North.  To  this  I  replied  that  the  Government  of  the  Union  had 
never  obstructed  the  policy  of  the  South  in  this  respect,  and  that 
the  non-enforcement  of  the  law  in  certain  States  was  due  to 
a  local  prejudice  which  time  would  have  removed.  I  showed 
by  quoting  from  our  census  returns  that  there  had  been  only 
eight  hundred  fugitive  slaves  the  past  ten  years  as  against 
eleven  hundred  the  previous  ten  years,  and  I  explained  fur- 


IN    WAR    TIME  213 

ther  that  the  most  active  secession  States  had  always  lost  the 
smallest  number  of  negroes,  and  had  always  refused  to  co 
operate  with  Northern  men  who  were  anxious  to  do  away 
with  these  inter-State  squabbles. 

"  In  all  these  interviews  I  have  represented  to  our  English 
friends  that  the  Secessionists  are  doing  their  best  to  create  a 
rupture  between  the  United  States  and  England  to  serve  their 
own  destructive  purposes  against  our  Government,  and  I  have 
expressed  a  hope  that  the  substantial  interests  would  look 
with  distrust  on  everyone  who  took  sides  against  his  own 
government  in  a  foreign  land.  Englishmen,  I  have  tried  to 
make  clear,  cannot  afford  to  foster  doctrines  which  are  as 
destructive  to  their  own  nationality  as  they  are  to  ours.  I 
find  that  the  shipments  of  food  have  produced  a  most  happy 
effect  on  all  classes,  notwithstanding  that  the  Secessionists 
attempted  to  prejudice  the  people  against  our  offering  of  good 
will  and  mercy.  You  will  see  by  the  papers  that  Mr.  Bright 
and  the  working  men  have  called  on  Mr.  Adams,  and  these 
ovations  will  do  much  to  popularize  the  Union  cause.  .  .  . 

"  I  am  yours  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

"  LONDON,  May  7th,  1863. 
"  JOHN  A.  PARKER,  ESQ. 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  dined  last  night  with  Mr.  Adams  and  learned 
that  our  relations  with  England  are  very  satisfactory,  and  great 
hopes  are  entertained  that  the  Alexandria  will  be  convicted. 

"  The  suspicious  element,  I  think,  is  on  the  wane  here,  and 
a  great  many  of  them  are  hard  up  for  funds.  The  blockade 
runners'  chase  has  not  been  as  successful  as  many  suppose, 
and  there  are  fewer  persons  disposed  to  invest  capital  in  them. 
Still  the  ravages  of  the  Florida  and  the  Alabama  cause  a  good 
deal  of  uneasiness  among  the  American  interests  here,  and 
underwriters  are  content  to  write  lightly  on  war  risks  around 
the  capes  on  American  property. 

"  Mr.  Aspinwall  and  Mr.  Titus  have  gone  to  the  Continent. 
I  met  Mr.  Robert  J.  Walker  at  Mr.  Adams'  dinner  a  few 


214  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

days  since.  He  is  popular  here,  and  Mr.  Evarts'  arrival  here 
will  be  of  much  value  in  the  Alexandria  case.  He  will  be 
equal  to  the  best  of  the  profession  in  London  and  will  make 
his  mark  before  he  leaves.  Mr.  Seward  was  wise  to  confide 
to  him  this  important  duty,  and  we  underwriters  will  be 
largely  gainers  if  he  succeeds  in  stopping  the  exit  of  those 
vessels.  The  change  of  feeling  is  very  great  since  I  have  been 
here  on  the  subject  of  the  Confederate  privateers.  Everyone, 
not  in  the  secession  interest,  is  anxious  to  stop  the  fitting  out 
of  armed  vessels,  and  even  the  blockade  runners  cannot  easily 
get  insured  at  any  possible  rate,  whereas  they  were  formerly 
insured  as  low  as  twenty  per  cent. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

The  following  letter  is  an  interesting  resume  of  the  state 
of  finance  and  of  politics  in  New  York  in  the  summer  of  1863, 
from  one  of  our  most  conservative  and  thoughtful  capitalists: 

"  NEW  YORK,  June  loth,  1863. 
"  R.  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  London,  England. 

"My  dear  Sir: — Your  kind  letter  came  safely  to  hand,  and 
I  now  take  a  moment  to  post  you  in  relation  to  matters  on 
this  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  wish  that  I  could  write  some 
thing  that  would  point  to  a  bright  picture  for  the  country 
that  you  and  I  have  so  dear  at  heart;  but  the  truth  must  be 
told,  and  that  is  very  far  from  being  encouraging  to  a  con 
servative  mind. 

'  The  war  is  still  going  on,  not  to  restore  the  Union,  but  to 
destroy  the  South  and  elevate  the  negro ;  not  because  the  party 
in  power  love  the  negro  but  for  the  reason  that  they  hate  the 
white  man  South  and  are  determined  to  annihilate  him  lest  at 
some  future  day  they  unite  with  the  Democratic  party  North 
and  thus  ignore  the  party  in  power.  Consequently,  the  war 
commenced  under  the  cry  of  saving  the  Union  when  in  reality 
it  was  for  the  purpose  of  extending  the  principles  of  the  Chi 
cago  platform  over  the  South.  Under  this  cry  for  the  Union,, 


IN    WAR   TIME  215 

the  Democratic  party  supported  the  war,  and  the  Administra 
tion  became  more  bold  and  from  time  to  time  put  forth  the 
real  motive,  seconded  at  every  step  by  an  Abolition  Congress, 
until  we  have  presented  to  us  the  emancipation  of  the  negro. 
The  subjugation  or  annihilation  of  the  South  is  accompanied 
by  the  confiscation  of  the  property  finally  to  be  divided  up 
among  the  soldiers.  Our  army  burn  and  destroy  as  they  go; 
send  out  armed  bands,  seize  the  negro  and  force  him  into  the 
ranks  to  fight  and  kill  his  master.  We  have  an  account  to-day 
from  South  Carolina  giving  a  history  of  a  raid  made  from  Hil 
ton  Head  by  the  celebrated  Montgomery  of  Kansas  notoriety, 
which  is  spread  on  the  bulletins  in  glowing  letters  as  a  great 
feat,  in  which  it  is  said  that  one  thousand  able  bodied  negroes 
have  been  secured  for  the  army,  a  large  quantity  of  furniture 
taken  from  the  planters  and  more  than  fifty  houses  burned  ;  and 
this  account  has  gladdened  the  faces  of  our  Abolition  friends. 
A  fight  is  going  on  at  Vicksburg  and  Fort  Hudson  with  great 
slaughter  on  both  sides  ;  and  to-day  it  is  announced  that  we  have 
lost  but  one  thousand  men  at  Vicksburg,  probably  enough  to 
satisfy  the  gnawings  of  an  Abolition  stomach.  The  papers 
will  post  you  up  in  regard  to  the  Peace  Meeting  in  our  city 
and  the  upheaving  of  the  masses  in  consequence  of  the  orders 
of  Gen.  Burnside. 

"  To  quiet  public  opinion  the  order  for  the  suppression  of 
a  paper  in  the  City  of  Chicago  has  been  revoked  by  the  Presi 
dent.  This  seems  to  have  allayed  the  excitement  for  the  mo 
ment,  and  the  trial  and  sentence  of  Vallandigham  remains  in 
full.  The  fact  appears  to  have  been  a  feeler,  Burnside  being 
used  as  an  instrument,  but  the  threatened  uprising  of  the 
people  rendered  it  necessary  to  revoke  a  part,  which  has  been 
done.  If  the  people  had  taken  the  medicine  kindly,  the  act 
would  have  been  that  of  the  President,  but  the  rebellious  ac 
tion  of  the  people  made  Burnside  the  man. 

'  The  people  in  New  York  are  more  outspoken  than  for 
merly,  even  some  begin  to  doubt  the  necessity  of  a  war,  and 
openly  talk  of  peace  to  restore  the  Union;  but,  my  friend, 
there  is  no  peace.  Restoring  the  Union  is  to  annihilate  the 


216  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Republican  Party;  nor  can  Unionism  and  Republicanism  ex 
ist  together;  the  thing  is  impossible,  consequently  the  Govern 
ment  goes  in  for  putting  down  the  rebellion  and  calls  upon  all 
loyal  men  everywhere  to  support  the  Government,  and  you 
cannot  support  the  Government  without  supporting  their 
measures ;  consequently,  Democrats  support  the  Government 
and  the  Government  carries  on  this  fratricidal  war,  and  the 
one  means  the  other.  Under  these  circumstances  it  appears 
to  me  that  Democrats  are  hypocrites  of  the  deepest  dye.  They 
support  and  condemn  the  war  in  the  same  breath.  This  is 
inconsistent  and  must  be  repudiated  by  the  people  if  they  ever 
come  to  their  senses,  or  if  the  country  is  to  be  saved. 

"  Our  financial  position  is  a  strong  one.  We  have  added 
$400,000,000  to  our  currency  and  yet  money  is  scarce.  At  the 
same  time,  people  are  rushing  in  with  their  money  and  taking 
the  Five  Twenties  at  the  rate  of  from  one  to  two  millions  per 
day.  At  the  same  time,  gold  is  fallen,  and  confidence  in  Gov 
ernment  securities  on  the  increase.  The  fall  in  gold  may  be 
partially  accounted  for  by  the  almost  total  paralysis  existing 
in  business ;  no  merchandise  changing  hands,  and  no  demand 
for  exchange. 

"  I  believe  the  directors  of  the  Great  Western  have  re 
sponded  to  all  your  suggestions  relating  to  a  foreign  agency. 
I  hope  it  will  work  well  as  it  is  a  child  of  your  own  and  will 
be  creditable  to  the  author.  ...  I  suppose  you  will  leave  for 
home  shortly  after  receiving  this  letter.  What  may  take 
place  in  the  meantime  it  is  hard  to  say.  The  general  impres 
sion  is  that  Vicksburg  will  fall,  but  my  mind  is  slow  in  arriving 
at  this  conclusion.  If  the  Confederates  get  no  reinforcements, 
it  is  a  question  of  time  only.  One  thing  I  have  not  understood 
yet  and  that  is  what  has  become  of  Joe  Johnston  as  he  is  called ; 
he  may  turn  up  very  unexpectedly  and  change  the  whole  pro 
gramme. 

"  Hoping  you  are  well  and  looking  forward  for  your  safe 
return,  I  am  dear  sir, 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"W.  G.  HUNT." 


IN    WAR   TIME  217 

On  this,  my  first  trip  abroad,  I  found  that  the  German 
hotels,  especially  those  in  the  Swiss  watering  places  (such 
as  the  Hotel  Baur-Sur-Lac,  at  Zurich)  came  nearer  to 
the  American  standard  than  those  of  London  or  Paris. 
The  Grand  Hotel  du  Louvre  had  just  been  opened  in 
Paris,  but  it  did  not  afford,  although  the  building  was 
sumptuous  and  the  cuisine  excellent,  the  comforts  of  the 
hotels  of  New  York.  In  London,  the  hotels  were  still 
of  the  tavern  sort,  and  the  better-class  English  families, 
while  visiting  London,  went  into  lodgings ;  strangers  only 
put  up  at  hotels.  I  recall  Morley's,  in  Trafalgar  Square, 
a  plain,  four-story  brick  building  of  perhaps  forty  or 
fifty  feet  front,  differing  from  the  other  buildings  in  the  block 
only  in  having  a  baywindow  to  light  the  coffee  room,  which 
was  all  the  dining  room  there  was.  Here  meals  were  served  in 
the  same  general  manner  (but  less  neatly)  as  in  our  New  York 
down-town  eating  houses.  For  breakfast,  muffins,  eggs,  and 
fish,  a  large  piece  of  cold  roast  beef,  kept  on  a  separate  table 
to  be  served  if  called  for,  tea  and  coffee.  At  dinner  the  same 
substantial  eatables  were  dispensed  by  a  single  waiter;  and, 
at  the  end  of  the  day,  a  long  itemized  bill  of  the  charges  for 
room,  service,  and  food  was  handed  each  guest.  The  entrance 
hall  was  filled  with  trunks  and  other  baggage  to  relieve  the 
small  bedrooms  in  the  upper  stories.  Persons  with  families 
could  have  a  private  parlor  in  which  meals  were  served,  but 
fruit  or  ices  had  to  be  purchased  separately.  My  room  was 
a  regular  hall  bedroom.  The  bed  was  a  tall  old-fashioned  af 
fair  with  a  feather  mattress  resting  on  cords,  and  a  canopy  of 
calico,  and  so  elevated  as  to  need  a  stepladder.  The  wash- 
stand  was  of  a  three-cornered  pattern  to  save  room,  and  the 
ewer  and  basin  were  cracked.  And  yet  this  hotel  is  still  popu 
lar  for  English  patronage,  and  had  at  that  time  many  country 
members  of  Parliament  as  guests. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  the  Langham  began  to  be  fre 
quented  by  Americans.  It  was  among  the  first  departures 
from  the  old-fashioned  inn  for  which  England  was  celebrated. 
It  was  ornate  architecturally,  and  contained  spacious  and  well- 


218  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

ordered  public  and  private  apartments  like  the  American 
hotels,  but  was  indifferently  managed.  Having  met  with  an 
accident,  I  fell  under  the  professional  care  of  a  surgeon  who 
happened  to  be  one  of  the  stockholders  of  the  hotel.  This  sur 
geon,  who  by  force  of  making  me  daily  visits  grew  to  be  very 
friendly,  inquired  how  the  Langham  ranked  in  my  estimation 
with  the  many  hotels  I  had  visited  during  the  year.  I  replied 
that  I  regarded  it  as,  perhaps,  the  best  I  had  seen  in  Europe, 
but  that  it  fell  far  short  of  first-class  hotels  in  New  York; 
and  then  I  specified  its  many  defects.  The  surgeon  thereupon 
admitted  frankly  that  their  trustees  realized  that  hotel  manage 
ment  was  an  American  accomplishment,  and  asked  me  if  I 
knew  where  the  Langham  could  procure  a  competent  manager. 
I  informed  him  that  there  was  a  Mr.  Sanderson,  then  tempor 
arily  out  of  employment,  in  Europe,  who  could  be  obtained 
if  suitable  terms  were  offered  him.  This  brought  an  investiga 
tion  of  Mr.  Sanderson's  qualifications  and  led  to  his  engage 
ment.  The  example  set  by  the  Langham  under  Mr.  Sanderson's 
management  was  largely  followed  in  London,  with  the  result 
that  that  city  now  possesses  many  admirable  hostelries. 

While  on  the  subject  of  hotels  I  will  narrate  an  amusing 
experience  which  I  had  in  Paris  during  one  of  my  subsequent 
trips  abroad.  One  day,  on  the  Boulevard,  I  met  the  courrier 
who  had  served  me  on  my  first  visit  to  Paris.  It  turned  out 
that  he  was  then  in  the  service  of  Bishop  Bedell,  whom  I  knew 
well.  He  told  me  that  the  Bishop  was  stopping  at  the  Hotel 
Continental,  and  would  be  glad  to  have  me  call.  When  I 
went  to  the  hotel  and  asked  the  clerk  to  permit  me  to  look 
over  the  register  he  replied  in  a  very  brusque,  not  to  say  con 
temptuous,  manner,  "  We  don't  permit  our  register  to  be  in 
spected  by  every  casual  caller,  but  if  you  think  you  have  a 
friend  here  give  me  his  name  and  I  will  see." 

Now,  I  have  a  most  unfortunate  memory  for  names — even 
those  of  my  intimates — and  for  the  moment  I  could  not  think 
of  the  name  Bedell ;  but  not  wishing  to  confirm  the  suspicions 
of  the  clerk  in  the  presence  of  the  American  guests  whose 
attention  had  been  attracted  by  his  loud  and  supercilious  tones, 


IN    WAR   TIME  219 

I  seized  upon  the  first  name  that  occurred  to  me  and  boldly 
asked  for  Bishop  Whitehouse  of  Illinois.  The  title  of  Bishop 
commands  more  respect  in  European  hotels  than  that  of  any 
military  title — except  that  of  Field  Marshal — and  the  clerk  on 
hearing  it  dropped  his  pomposity  instantly,  and  replied  in  the 
blandest  manner  of  which  he  was  capable,  "  Your  distinguished 
friend  Bishop  Whitehouse  has  engaged  rooms  here  for  next 
week  by  letter."  "Are  you  sure,"  I  remarked  with  a  great  show 
of  delight,  "  that  he  will  actually  visit  you?  "  "  Quite  sure ;  he 
is  always  our  guest."  "  Then,"  said  I,  "  I  shall  remain  and 
be  overjoyed  to  meet  him  again.  He  has  been  dead  three 
years,  but  I  have  understood  that  all  good  Americans  return 
to  Paris  after  their  death."  The  Americans  who  had  wit 
nessed  the  scene  came  forward  with  great  glee  and  to  the  dis 
gust  of  the  clerk  congratulated  me  on  the  early  return  of  my 
friend,  the  Bishop,  to  Paris. 

On  returning  to  New  York  from  abroad  in  the  fall  of  1863, 
I  drafted  and  secured  the  signatures  of  the  principal  mer 
chants  of  New  York  to  the  following  letter  to  Gideon  Welles, 
the  Secretary  of  the  Navy: 

"  NEW  YORK,  28th  Oct.,  1863. 
"  HON.  GIDEON  WELLES,  Secretary  of  the  Navy, 

"  Washington,  D.  C 

"  Sir: — The  continued  depredations  of  the  rebel  cruisers  on 
the  mercantile  marine  of  the  country  have  not  only  destroyed 
a  large  amount  of  the  active  capital  of  the  merchants,  but  se 
riously  threatened  the  very  existence  of  that  valuable  part 
of  our  commerce.  Apart  from  the  loss  of  so  much  individual 
wealth,  and  the  destruction  of  so  valuable  a  source  of  material 
power  and  enterprise,  it  is  humiliating  to  our  pride,  as  citizens 
of  the  first  naval  power  on  the  earth,  that  a  couple  of  in 
differently  equipped  rebel  cruisers  should,  for  so  long  a  period, 
threaten  our  commerce  with  annihilation.  It  is  a  painful 
source  of  mortification  to  every  American  at  home  and  abroad, 
that  the  great  highways  of  our  commerce  have  hitherto  been  so 
unprotected  by  the  almost  total  absence  of  national  armed  ves- 


220  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

sels,  as  to  induce  rebel  insolence  to  attack  our  flag  almost  at 
the  entrance  of  our  harbors,  and  to  actually  blockade  our  mer 
chantmen  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope  recently;  an  account  of 
which  you  have  herewith  enclosed,  being  a  copy  of  a  letter 
recently  received  from  a  Captain  of  one  of  the  blockaded  ships, 
having  a  valuable  cargo.  We  are  conscious  that  it  is  no 
easy  matter  to  capture  a  couple  of  cruisers  on  the  boundless 
waters  of  the  ocean,  aided  and  abetted  as  they  have  too  often 
been,  at  ports  where  international  comity,  if  not  international 
law,  has  been  set  at  defiance,  and  we  have  witnessed  with  sat 
isfaction  the  patriotic  zeal  and  effective  energy  of  your  de 
partment,  and  the  glorious  successes  of  our  navy  in  subduing 
the  rebellion,  which  threatened  our  national  union.  Still  we 
think  that  the  loyal  merchants  and  ship  owners  of  the  country, 
whose  zeal  and  patriotic  co-operation  have  generously  fur 
nished  the  funds  to  sustain  the  government,  are  entitled  to 
have  more  energetic  protection  of  their  interests  than  has 
hitherto  been  extended  to  them.  Your  very  arduous  official 
duties  have,  no  doubt,  prevented  you  from  investigating  the 
serious  inroads  which  the  unprotected  state  of  our  carrying 
trade  has  produced  on  our  tonnage ;  and  without  troubling  you 
with  the  great  loss  which  our  ship  owners  sustained  in  the 
almost  total  loss  of  foreign  commerce,  it  is  only  necessary  to 
call  your  attention  to  the  enclosed  table,  prepared  and  pub 
lished  by  one  of  the  best  informed  commercial  journals  of 
this  city,  showing  the  loss  of  the  carrying  trade  on  the  imports 
and  exports  of  this  city  alone,  by  which  you  will  perceive  that, 
while  during  the  quarter  ending  30  June,  1860,  we  imported 
and  exported  over  $62,000,000  in  American  vessels  and  but 
$30,000,000  in  foreign  vessels,  we  have  in  the  corresponding 
quarter  of  this  year  only  $23,000,000  by  our  own  ships,  while 
we  have  $65,000,000  by  foreign  vessels.  The  intermediate 
periods  show  a  most  painful  decadence  of  our  shipping  inter 
est  and  tonnage,  by  transfer  and  sale  to  foreign  flags,  which 
at  this  time  of  considerable  commercial  activity,  does  not  so 
much  indicate  a  want  of  enterprise  in  this  field  of  occupation, 
as  a  want  of  confidence  in  the  national  protection  of  our  flag 


IN    WAR   TIME  221 

on  the  ocean.  The  national  pride  of  many  of  our  patriotic 
ship  owners  has  subjected  them  to  heavy  sacrifices  in  the  dif 
ference  of  insurance  against  capture  of  two  to  ten  per  cent. ; 
while  the  underwriters  of  the  country  have  been  compelled 
to  make  great  concessions  in  favor  of  American  shipping,  yet 
without  materially  affecting  the  result.  And  many  of  them  have 
encountered  heavy  losses  by  captures  in  quarters  where  they 
have  had  every  reason  to  believe  our  commerce  would  be  pro 
tected  by  national  vessels  of  efficiency  and  power.  Indeed  the 
almost  total  absence  of  efficient  naval  force  in  many  of  the 
great  highways  of  commerce  has  had  a  damaging  influence 
on  our  prospects  by  producing  a  great  degree  of  temerity  on 
the  part  of  the  rebel  cruisers,  and  corresponding  misgivings  on 
the  part  of  underwriters  and  others  in  interest,  as  to  whether 
government  protection  would  be  afforded  to  our  ships  laden 
with  valuable  cargoes.  The  want  of  adequate  armed  vessels 
and  prominent  naval  stations  for  the  protection  of  our  ships 
has  become  so  notorious  that  underwriters  have  no  longer 
speculated  on  the  chance  of  the  capture  of  these  rebel  cruisers 
by  any  of  our  national  ships,  but  calculate  only  the  chances 
of  escape  of  our  merchantmen,  or  the  possible  destruction  of 
the  piratical  craft  from  reported  unseaworthiness  or  mutiny. 

'  These  statements  are  made  with  all  candor,  and  in  no 
spirit  of  captiousness,  but  with  a  desire  to  concede  that  the  em 
barrassment  of  the  department,  which  it  may  not  be  prudent  or 
practical  to  explain  to  the  public,  may  fully  justify  the  unfor 
tunate  position  which  the  want  of  naval  protection  has  placed 
our  commerce  in.  Yet  it  is  respectfully  urged  that  you  will 
give  this  subject  the  benefit  of  the  same  energy  and  ability 
which  have  so  creditably  marked  the  administration  of  your 
department  in  all  other  channels  of  your  official  duties.  No 
one  can  better  comprehend,  than  one  in  your  position,  the 
value  of  successful  commerce  at  this  time  of  great  national 
expenditure ;  and  a  paralysis  of  so  important  an  interest  can 
not  be  contemplated  without  horror,  at  this  period  of  our 
national  struggle. 

"  We  beg  leave  also  to  enclose  an  extract  from  the  Com- 


222   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

merical  Advertiser  of  26th  inst.  and  request  your  attention  to 
the  paragraph  marked. 

"  We  are,  Sir,  very  respectfully 

"  Your  obedient  servants, 
"  (Signed) 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  President  Great  Western  Ins.  Co. 
"  J.  P.  TAPPAN,  President  Neptune. 
"  F.  S.  LATHROP,  President  Union  Mutual. 
"  M.  H.  GRINNEL,  President  Sun. 
"  ROBERT  L.  TAYLOR,  Merchant  Owner. 
"  C.  H.  MARSHALL,  Merchant  Owner. 
"  A.  A.  Low  &  BROS.,  Merchant  Owners. 
"  GRINNEL,  MINTURN  &  Co.,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  WILSON  G.  HUNT,  Merchant. 
"  CHARLES  NEWCOMB,  V.   President  Mercantile  Mutual  Ins. 

Co. 

"  BROWN  BROS.  &  Co.,  Bankers. 
"W.  T.  FROST,  Merchant  Ship  Owner. 
u  ROGERS  &  KNEELAND,  Merchants. 
"  DUNCAN  SHERMAN  &  Co.,  Bankers. 
"  RUCHLIN  &  CRANE,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  E.  E.  MORGAN,  Merchant  Ship  Owner. 
"  WM.  WHITLOCK,  JR.,  Merchant  Ship  Owner. 
"  GEORGE  OPDYKE,  Mayor  New  York  City. 
"  AUGUST  BELMONT  &  Co.,  Bankers. 
"  JAMES  G.  KING  SONS,  Bankers. 
"  ARCHIBALD  GRACIE,  Merchant. 

"  HOWLAND  &  FROTHINGHAM,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  WILLIAMS  &  GUION,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  JOHN  H.  EARLE,  President  N.  Y.  Mutual  Ins.  Co. 
"  ISAAC  SHERMAN,  Merchant  Ship  Owner. 
"  W.  A.  SALE  &  Co.,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  THOMAS  DUNHAM,  Merchant  Ship  Owner. 
"  SPOFFORD,  TILESON  &  Co.,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  BABCOCK  BROS.  &  Co.,  Bankers. 

"  J.  PIERPONT  MORGAN  &  Co.,  Merchant  Ship  Owners. 
"  E.  D.  MORGAN  &  Co.,  U.  S.  Senator." 


IN    WAR   TIME  223 

To  this  communication  the  Secretary  sent  the  following 
response : 

"  NAVY  DEPARTMENT,  WASHINGTON,  Nov.  14,  1863. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.,  Prest.  Great  Western  Insurance 

Co., 
"  J.  P.  TAPPAN,  ESQ.,  Prest.  Neptune  Insurance  Co.,  and  other 

merchants  and  underwriters,  New  York. 
"  Gentlemen: — The  Department  duly  received  your  com 
munication  of  the  28th  ultimo,  in  reference  to  the  depreda 
tions  committed  upon  American  commerce  by  the  Alabama 
and  other  rebel  cruisers.  The  pursuit  and  capture  of  these 
vessels  is  a  matter  that  the  Department  has  had  constantly  in 
view,  and  swift  steamers  have  been  continually  in  search  of 
them  and,  at  times,  very  close  on  to  them.  They  are  under 
orders  to  follow  them  wherever  they  may  go. 

"  The  only  vessel  which  had  the  impudence  to  attack  our 
flag  at  the  entrance  of  our  harbors,  the  Tacony,  was  promptly 
pursued  and  her  career  was  soon  terminated.  The  Depart 
ment  had  about  thirty  vessels  after  her.  I  thank  you  for  your 
expression  that  energy  and  ability  have  creditably  marked  the 
administration  of  this  Department  in  all  other  channels  of 
official  duties.  A  rigid  blockade  of  the  coast  has  been  de 
manded  and  its  accomplishment  has  required  all  the  available 
force  that  the  Department  could  bring  to  bear.  To  do  this 
it  could  not  well  dispatch  a  larger  force  than  it  has  in  search 
of  piratical  rovers.  It  will  contiue  to  give  this  subject  its 
attention  and  hopes  as  the  avenues  to  the  insurrectionary  region 
are  becoming  closed  and  the  Navy  is  enlarging,  to  be  able  to 
have  a  larger  force  to  pursue  the  pirates  and  secure  the 
safety  of  our  commerce  abroad. 

"  Very  respectfully,  etc., 

"  GIDEON  WELLES, 

"  Sec'y  of  the  Navy/' 

On  coming  from  my  residence  in  New  Rochelle  to  the  city 
on  May  12,  1864,  I  found  the  business  district  in  a  state  of  great 


224  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

excitement  by  reason  of  the  appearance  in  two  of  the  morning 
papers,  the  Journal  of  Commerce  and  the  World,  of  a  procla 
mation  of  President  Lincoln  announcing  very  sensational  and 
discouraging  military  disasters,  and  calling  for  an  immediate 
increase  of  the  army  by  400,000  men.  This  proclamation 
was  an  ingenious  forgery,  but  it  was  widely  accepted  as  gen 
uine  because  of  its  apparent  regularity.  That  the  Tribune  and 
Herald  and  other  less  prominent  papers  did  not  publish  it  was 
quite  easily  accounted  for  by  the  lateness  of  the  hour  (the 
early  morning)  when  it  was  received,  many  of  the  papers 
having  by  that  time  closed  their  news  columns  and  begun 
printing  the  morning  editions  for  the  mails.  On  reaching  my 
office,  I  found  Captain  Charles  H.  Marshall  and  Mr.  A.  A. 
Low,  both  earnest  Republicans,  prominent  merchants,  officials 
in  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  and  in  the  Union  Defense  Com 
mittee,  who  said  to  me,  "  You  are  so  intimate  with  the  Journal 
of  Commerce,  go  down  and  learn  where  they  got  the  authority 
for  a  government  statement  withheld  from  every  Republican 
paper."  I  had  an  interview  at  once  with  Mr.  Stone,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  conservative  and  cautious  editors  in  the  city. 
At  first  he  regarded  this  early  publication  as  an  evidence  only 
of  the  greater  activity  and  enterprise  of  his  night  editor.  When 
I  suggested  that  it  was  very  strange  that  no  Republican  organ 
had  been  favored  with  so  important  a  piece  of  news  by  its 
own  Administration,  he  seemed  to  be  impressed  and  sent  for 
the  telegraphic  dispatch.  This  dispatch  was  in  all  respects — 
paper,  heading,  form,  etc., — like  former  dispatches  from  the 
same  source.  I  said,  "  This  looks  all  right,  but  the  circum 
stances  are  so  peculiar  that  I  advise  you  to  telegraph  to  the 
Secretary  of  State  for  his  direct  authentication."  Mr.  Stone 
did  this  immediately,  but,  from  some  cause  not  creditable  to 
Mr.  Seward,  he  did  not  receive  a  reply  until  the  day  after  the 
fraud  was  exposed.  I  quote  further  details  of  this  case  from 
Dr.  Morgan  Dix's  biography  of  his  father: 

"  General  Dix  immediately  commenced  an  investigation  of 
the  fraud,  and  wrote  the  same  day  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
exonerating  the  editors  of  the  city  newspapers  from  the 


IN    WAR   TIME  225 

charge  of  complicity  in  the  affair,  assuring  the  Government 
that  the  authors  of  the  crime  would  probably  soon  be  detected, 
and  promising,  in  that  case,  their  immediate  arrest  and  punish 
ment.  But,  unfortunately,  the  Secretary  of  War,  no  doubt 
under  the  influence  of  passionate  excitement,  obtained  an 
order  from  the  President  for  the  immediate  arrest  of  the 
editors,  proprietors  and  publishers  of  the  World  and  Journal 
of  Commerce.  The  General  commanding  the  Department 
obeyed  his  orders,  as  a  matter  of  course,  though  fully  aware 
of  the  blunder  made  by  his  chief;  a  blunder  of  which  Mr. 
Stanton  became  almost  immediately  sensible,  as  he  counter 
manded  his  order  on  the  following  day.  It  is  the  first  duty 
of  the  soldier  to  obey.  General  Dix  had  nothing  to  do  but  to 
execute  the  orders  of  the  President,  and  no  responsibility  for 
them ;  nor  could  he  have  evaded  that  duty  except  by  resigna 
tion  of  his  commission,  a  step  not  to  be  thought  of  for  a  mo 
ment  in  time  of  war  and  at  a  most  critical  period  in  the  history 
of  the  country.  And  yet,  because  he  acted  on  that  occasion 
as  became  a  soldier,  he  was  made,  for  a  long  time  afterwards, 
the  mark  of  invidious  criticism,  and  was  compelled  to  bear 
the  blame  of  another's  rashness/7 

The  evening  after  the  arrests  referred  to  above,  I  made  a 
social  call  on  General  and  Mrs.  Dix  in  company  with  Judge 
Barbour  of  the  Supreme  Court.  Mrs.  Dix,  who  was  not  only 
a  charming  woman  but  wonderfully  proficient  in  public  mat 
ters,  said  to  the  Judge,  "  Do  you  approve  of  the  arrest  of  these 
two  editors  by  the  General  ?  "  The  Judge,  a  plain-spoken  and 
candid  man,  said,  "  Madame,  as  a  jurist  and  a  Democrat  I 
greatly  regret  that  the  obligation  of  the  General,  as  a  soldier, 
to  obey  orders  has  made  it  necessary  for  him  to  do  as  he  has 
done ;  and  I  very  much  fear  that  his  friends  will  fail  to  con 
sider  that  he  was  powerless  to  prevent  this  high-handed  and 
shocking  proceeding.  It  is  a  well-established  principle  that 
in  a  free  government  the  military  power  must  not  override 
civil  rights  in  those  places  where  civil  tribunals  are  open." 
Mrs.  Dix  immediately  replied,  "  Judge,  I  agree  with  you  per- 


226  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

fectly."  How  far  the  sound  views  of  this  well-informed  and 
prominent  Democratic  lady  influenced  the  General's  corre 
spondence  with  the  Secretary  of  War  on  this  occasion  or 
strengthened  his  conservative  attitude  towards  military  ar 
rests  while  commanding  in  the  South,  must  be  left  to  con 
jecture.  We  know  that  Napoleon  and  other  great  captains 
often  profited  by  the  conservative  influence  of  their  intelli 
gent  wives. 

A  similar  exercise  of  despotic  power,  earlier  in  the  war, 
drove  Gerard  Hallock  from  the  editorship  of  the  New  York 
Journal  of  Commerce — the  method  of  the  Government  having 
been  to  suppress  this  paper  and  then  to  intimate  that  the  em 
bargo  would  be  raised  if  Hallock  would  withdraw. 

The  victim  of  these  unworthy  tactics  was  among  the  most 
distinguished  and  energetic  journalists  of  New  York,  and,  in 
deed,  of  the  United  States.  He  began  his  career  in  Boston 
in  1824,  and  continued  it  on  the  New  York  Observer  (the 
conservative  Presbyterian  organ  of  the  country),  which  he 
left  to  become  associated  with  David  Hale  in  the  Journal  of 
Commerce,  in  1828.  He  inaugurated  the  plan  of  sending  out 
fast-sailing  schooners  to  intercept  the  packets  in  order  to  se 
cure  the  earliest  news  from  Europe,  and  of  getting  the  first 
announcements  from  Washington  by  means  of  relays  of 
horses.  His  paper  was  the  conservative  mercantile  and  ship 
ping  organ  of  the  city,  and  an  advertising  medium  highly  ap 
preciated  by  the  leading  produce  and  shipping  firms  regardless 
of  their  political  affiliations. 

He  was  a  firm  Union  man,  and  wrote  and  signed  the  call 
for  the  "  Pine  Street  Meeting,"  and  was,  up  to  the  time  he  was 
deprived  of  his  paper,  a  liberal  contributor  in  money  and  in 
fluence  to  every  Union  movement.  Like  all  conservative  Union 
men,  he  regarded  sectional  controversy  as  disloyal,  whether 
indulged  in  by  Abolitionists  at  the  North  or  Secessionists  at 
the  South.  A  stern  defender  of  the  rights  of  the  South  under 
the  Constitution,  and  as  sternly  against  Secession  and  the 
fanaticism  to  which  it  led,  he  neither  justified  a  rupture  of  the 
LTnion  by  the  South  nor  approved  of  the  war  spirit  in  the  North. 


GKKARD    J  I. \LLOCK 
Reproduced    from   an   old   photograph. 


IN    WAR   TIME  227 

He  was  a  sincere  friend  of  the  colored  race,  as  was  attested 
by  his  constant  disbursement  of  money  for  their  needy  at 
the  North,  and  his  gifts  to  the  individual  freedmen  of  the 
South  who  appealed  to  him. 

He  was  a  fine  exemplar  of  what  was  best  in  New  England 
Puritanism,  being  a  devoted  Deacon  of  one  of  the  oldest  Con 
gregational  churches  of  Connecticut,  and  not  only  a  generous 
supporter  of  that  church,  but  a  liberal  dispenser  of  charity 
throughout  his  city.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  of  the  South 
ern  Aid  Society  when  the  American  Home  Missionary  Society 
withdrew  its  support  from  slave-holding  churches.  I  insert 
here  a  letter  sent  by  Mr.  Hallock  to  his  son,  William  H.  Hal- 
lock,  soon  after  he  was  hounded  into  giving  up  his  editorship. 
It  tells  its  own  story: 

"  NEW  HAVEN,  Nov.  22nd,  1862. 
"  To  WILLIAM  H.  HALLOCK,  ESQ. 

"Dear  William: — I  am  much  obliged  to  my  friend,  Mr. 
Lathers,  for  inviting  me  to  join  his  circle  of  Honorables  next 
Monday,  but  it  is  out  of  my  line.  I  would  be  no  good.  Having 
received  my  walking  papers  from  the  highest  authority,  I 
consider  myself  entitled  to  enjoy  the  benefit  of  them.  My 
heart,  however,  is  cordially,  warmly,  enthusiastically,  with  all 
such  men  as  you  name,  and  I  now  feel  great  confidence  that 
they  will  soon  triumph  in  the  nation  at  large  (as  they  have  al 
ready  done  in  your  own  and  other  States)  whether  you  con 
sider  the  nation  as  embracing  the  Southern  Confederacy  or 
not.  When  that  point  is  reached,  peace  will  soon  follow.  But 
peace  with  Bk.  Republicans,  who  in  connection  with  these 
others,  the  Abolitionists  are  responsible  for  this  cruel  war,  is 
impossible.  When  they  are  out  of  the  way,  the  South  will  be 
prepared  to  negotiate,  I  do  not  say  for  a  return,  but  I  hope  so, 
to  the  Union  on  their  part;  but  if,  unfortunately,  for  separa 
tion,  on  terms  which  would  secure  to  the  North  some  of  the 
advantages  of  the  old  Union  which  has  been  so  wantonly  and 
wickedly  destroyed.  In  the  last  two  days  I  have  been  read 
ing  Prof.  Wm.  C.  Fowler's  book  entitled  *  Sectional  Contro- 


228  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

versy.'  It  is  an  admirable  work  consisting  largely  of  docu 
mentary  extracts,  many  of  which,  to  be  sure,  have  been  pub 
lished  in  the  /.  of  Commerce,  chiefly  during  the  year  or  two 
previous  to  my  leaving  that  establishment,  but  they  are  now 
presented  in  a  convenient  and  accessible  form,  and  show  con 
clusively  and  in  a  very  quiet  way  that  this  war  is  the  culmina 
tion  of  the  efforts  of  the  Abolitionists  in  connection  with  their 
aiders  and  abettors  the  Blk.  Republicans,  and  that  the  Ship 
of  State  has  been  drifting  directly  towards  these  breakers  for 
the  last  thirty  years.  If  this  book  could  have  been  read  by 
the  American  people  generally  three  years  ago,  my  opinion  is 
that  it  would  have  prevented  this  war,  by  preventing  the  elec 
tion  of  a  President  and  Congress  who  have  fulfilled  the  most 
ardent  wishes  of  the  Abolitionists,  by  arraying  the  whole 

power  of  the  North,  Democrats  and  all, against  the 

South,  nominally  for  the  preservation  of  the  Union,  but  really 
for  its  destruction.  I  do  not  mean  that  the  President  and  Con 
gress,  particularly  the  former,  desire  the  destruction  of  the 
Union,  but  only  that  this  was  a  very  necessary  result  of  the 
course  they  pursued.  In  the  meantime,  Abolitionism  and  the 
Devil  are  gloating  over  the  mischief  they  have  done  and  shout 
ing  (see  Anti-Slavery  Standard  after  Lincoln  called  out  his 
first  75,000  men),  'Glory  to  God  in  the  Highest!'  'Stand 
still  and  see  the  salvation  of  the  Lord ' !  That  is  stand  still 
and  see  the  mighty  power  of  the  North  exhausted  upon  the 
South  for  the  destruction  of  its  whole  population  and  the  in 
stallation  of  the  blacks  in  their  place.  But  enough  of  this.  I 
think  I  see  a  gleam  of  day,  but  it  is  still  through  black  clouds 
of  desolation  and  woe.  I  thank  God  I  can  wash  my  hands 
from  all  participation  in  the  guilt  of  this  war,  that  is,  all  vol 
untary  participation,  and  no  other  involves  moral  guilt  before 

God/ 

"  Cordially  yours, 

"  FATHER." 

All  history  goes  to  show  that  civil  contests,  even  for  the  vindi 
cation  of  governmental  authority,  are  apt  to  develop,  through 


IN    WAR   TIME  229 

partisan  pressure,  a  total  disregard  of  private  rights  and  of 
law.  Some  time  before  the  close  of  the  war  a  New  York 
paper  published  a  list  of  250  cases  of  illegal  arrests  of  editors 
and  suspensions  of  their  journals  by  order  of  Government 
officials  without  any  authority  from  any  court  of  record — in 
direct  violation  of  that  clause  of  the  Constitution  which  says : 
"  The  right  of  the  people  to  be  secure  in  their  persons, 
house,  papers  and  effects  against  unreasonable  search  and 
seizure,  shall  not  be  violated;  and  no  warrant  shall  issue  but 
upon  probable  cause  supported  upon  oath  or  affirmation  and 
particularly  describing  the  place  to  be  searched  and  the  per 
son  or  things  to  be  seized."  Secretary  of  State  Seward  is 
well  known  to  have  made  this  boast  to  the  British  Minister, 
Lord  Lyons.  "  I  can  touch  a  bell  on  my  right  hand  and  order 
the  arrest  of  a  citizen  of  Ohio.  I  can  touch  a  bell  again, 
and  order  the  imprisonment  of  a  citizen  of  New  York,  and  no 
power  on  earth,  except  that  of  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  can  release  them.  Can  the  Queen  of  England  do  as 
much  ?  " 

In  the  spring  of  1861  Chief  Justice  Taney  issued  a  writ 
of  attachment  against  General  Cadwallader  for  contempt  of 
court  in  attempting  to  make  an  arrest  authorized  by  the  sus 
pension  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Act,  which  suspension  the  Gen 
eral  claimed  to  be  by  the  authority  of  the  President.  Judge 
Taney  said,  in  this  writ,  that  the  President  had  no  right  to 
suspend  the  Act  or  to  authorize  others  to  do  so ;  that  military 
officers  had  no  right  to  make  arrests  except  in  aid  of  judicial 
authority ;  that  persons  so  arrested  must  be  delivered  to  the 
civil  authorities  to  be  dealt  with  according  to  law ;  that  the 
military  authority  was  subordinate  to  the  civil,  and  under  or 
dinary  circumstances  it  would  be  the  duty  of  the  Marshal  to 
proceed  to  bring  the  offending  General  into  court;  but,  as,  in 
the  present  case,  it  would  be  impossible  to  do  so,  he  should 
prepare  an  opinion  and  forward  it  to  the  President  calling  upon 
him  to  enforce  the  decision  of  the  Court.  The  opinion  was 
published  all  over  the  country  as  the  law  of  the  land,  but, 
like  the  clauses  of  the  Constitution  on  the  same  subject,  was 


230  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

totally  ignored  by  the  Secretary  of  War :  hence  the  large  num 
ber  of  illegal  arrests  to  which  I  have  called  attention. 

September  6,  1864,  I  delivered  an  address  before  the  Mer 
cantile  Library  Association  (of  which  I  had  just  been  elected 
an  honorary  member)  on  the  dignity,  power,  and  civilizing 
efficacy  of  commerce  from  the  beginning  of  the  exchange  of 
commodities  down  to  the  marvelous  trade  triumphs  of  Great 
Britain  and  our  own  country.  My  interest  in  the  work  of  this 
library  has  been  constant  and  my  relations  thereto  rank  among 
the  pleasantest  of  my  memories. 


CHAPTER    VIII 

AFTER    THE    WAR 

ON  coming  to  the  city  from  my  residence  at  New  Rochelle, 
April  15,  1865,  I  found  the  utmost  consternation  prevailing 
among  all  classes  owing  to  the  assassination  of  President 
Lincoln  and  the  attempt  on  the  life  of  Secretary  of  State 
Seward.  The  streets  were  filled  with  excited  crowds.  I 
hastened  to  the  store  of  A.  T.  Stewart  &  Co.,  to  procure 
bombazine  with  which  to  drape  my  office.  Early  as  it  was  in 
the  morning,  others  had  been  there  before  me,  and  the  clerks 
would  sell  only  a  limited  quantity  of  bombazine  to  any  one 
person  because  the  stock  was  nearly  exhausted.  Every  build 
ing  in  the  city  was  literally  covered  with  this  emblem  of 
sorrow. 

While  superintending  the  draping  of  the  Great  Western 
building  in  William  Street,  I  witnessed  several  violent  attacks 
upon  innocent  persons  whom  the  exasperated  crowd  had  singled 
out  as  Secessionists  or  sympathizers  with  the  South. 

Thus,  a  most  respectable  Northern  commission  merchant, 
who  was  honest  enough  to  say  that  the  South  should  not  be 
held  responsible  for  the  acts  of  madmen  and  assassins,  es 
caped  with  his  life  only  by  taking  refuge  in  a  cellar,  whence 
he  was  able  to  get  unperceived  into  a  side  street.  Many  South 
erners  called  at  the  office  of  the  Great  Western  in  the  utmost 
alarm.  I  advised  them  to  return  to  their  hotels  and  lock 
themselves  into  their  rooms  for  the  day.  In  due  time  it  was 
ascertained  that  the  crime  was  that  of  a  madman,  and  that  it 
evoked  no  sympathy  at  the  South,  where,  on  the  contrary, 
the  deepest  regret  was  expressed  for  the  loss  of  the  President, 
who  had  been  the  friend  and  protector  of  that  section ;  and 
then  the  crowd  abandoned  the  streets  and  went  quietly  to  their 
homes. 

231 


232   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

A  few  days  later  I  delivered  at  New  Rochelle  an  address 
upon  Lincoln  in  which  I  reprobated  in  the  strongest  terms 
the  deed  of  the  assassin,  and  praised  the  admirable  qualities 
of  the  martyred  President. 

I  also  delivered  an  address  on  Lincoln  at  Tammany  Hall, 
New  York.  In  fact,  this  was  my  last  active  connection  with 
Tammany,  although  I  concurred  with  that  organization  un 
til  it  stultified  itself  by  advocating  Bryanism. 

The  Civil  War,  which  commenced  with  the  firing  on  Fort 
Sumter,  April  I2th,  1861,  may  be  said  to  have  been  terminated 
by  the  review  and  disbanding  of  General  Sherman's  army  of 
70,000  veterans  in  Washington,  May  24th,  1865,  tm's  being 
the  last  scene  in  the  last  act  of  the  great  military  drama. 

The  abolition  of  slavery,  interwoven  as  this  institution  was 
with  the  daily  thought  and  life  of  both  races,  was  productive 
of  suffering,  at  the  time,  to  all  classes  in  the  South.  This 
sudden  disruption  of  the  accustomed  relations,  which,  after 
all,  had  many  redeeming  qualities,  led  to  a  ruinous  decline  in 
the  value  of  the  land  which  had  been  tilled  by  slave  labor; 
this,  too,  at  a  period  when  personal  property  and  all  forms  of 
wealth  had  suffered  from  the  ravages  of  war.  To  aggravate 
the  situation,  hordes  of  corrupt  adventurers  from  the  North, 
who  were  in  some  cases  felons  from  Northern  prisons,  swooped 
down  on  these  impoverished  States.  Encouraged  and  sup 
ported  by  sectional  partisans  in  and  out  of  Congress,  and  armed 
with  oppressive,  unconstitutional  laws  which  elevated  the  slave 
above  his  master  and  the  stranger  above  the  native,  they  de 
veloped  a  degree  of  corruption,  despotism,  and  bankruptcy 
without  example  in  the  history  of  civilization.  These  despoilers 
of  the  land  were  first  called  by  the  observant  negroes,  "  carpet 
baggers  "  from  the  fact  that  they  came  to  the  South  with  no 
other  baggage  or  property  than  their  carpet-bags.  '  Them 
buckra  with  carpet-bags,"  was  the  way  in  which  the  negroes 
commonly  referred  to  them. 

The  supremacy  of  national  authority  having  been  absolutely 
established,  the  public  mind  was  divided  as  to  the  attitude  to 
be  adopted  towards  the  South.  Were  the  Southern  States 


AFTER   THE    WAR  233 

to  be  regarded  and  treated  as  conquered  provinces?  That 
they  should  be  so  regarded  and  treated  was  the  desire  of  a 
class  of  sectional  politicans  who  were  given  the  whip  hand 
in  Congress  by  the  unfortunate  assassination  of  the  true  friend 
of  the  South,  President  Lincoln,  whose  patriotic  affection  em 
braced  all  sections  of  our  country.  There  was  no  warrant, 
direct  or  implied,  in  our  Constitution  for  the  destruction  or 
limitation  of  the  equal  rights  of  any  State  in  the  Union  for 
any  cause  whatever,  and  there  was  no  provision  for  conquered 
provinces.  The  triumph  of  the  arms  of  the  Union  was  not 
over  States,  as  Mr.  Lincoln  remarked,  but  over  rebellious 
citizens  of  States.  As  the  Union  was  indestructible,  so,  too, 
the  equal  rights  of  the  States  were  indestructible,  and  could  not 
be  impaired  either  by  the  actual  rebellion  of  its  citizens  or  by 
the  possibility  of  future  disloyalty.  As  the  crime  of  rebellion 
was  personal,  such  rebellion  could  not  justify  a  violation  of 
the  Constitution  by  the  Government  in  its  dealings  with  the 
States.  The  South  was  in  rebellion  when  it  denied  the  sov 
ereignty  of  the  Union,  and  organized  war  against  it ;  the  North 
was  likewise  in  rebellion  when  it  denied  the  equal  rights  of 
the  States  and  obstructed  the  exercise  of  them. 

The  desire  of  the  better  elements  of  the  South  to  accept 
any  terms  proposed  by  the  Government  was  so  strong  that 
they  readily  submitted  to  even  the  illegal  and  degrading  con 
ditions  imposed  by  the  policy  of  the  party  in  power  in  1867. 
The  substantial  industrial  and  commercial  interests  were  re 
solved  to  enjoy  the  peace  and  security  of  civil  law,  even  though 
they  were  coupled  with  the  humiliations  of  negro  suffrage  and 
the  loss  of  suffrage  by  native  white  citizens.  But  they  were 
mistaken  in  their  haste  for  local  government  under  negro  rule. 
It  would  have  been  better  in  every  respect  for  them — and  for 
the  whole  country — to  have  been  ruled  by  the  intelligent  and 
responsible  army  officers,  then  in  the  South,  than  to  have  been 
robbed  and  insulted  by  the  negroes  and  carpet-baggers  who 
were  set  over  them ;  and  it  would  have  been  quite  as  consti 
tutional. 

President   Lincoln's   eloquent   appeal   to  the   South,   in   his 


234  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

Inaugural  on  the  eve  of  the  war,  closed  with  this  fraternal 
utterance,  "  In  your  hands,  my  dissatisfied  fellow  countrymen, 
and  not  in  mine,  are  the  momentous  issues  of  civil  war.  The 
government  will  not  assail  you.  You  can  have  no  conflict 
without  being  yourselves  the  aggressors.  You  have  no  oath 
in  heaven  to  destroy  the  government,  while  I  have  the  most 
solemn  to  preserve,  protect  and  defend  it.  I  am  loath  to 
close.  We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not  break 
our  bond  of  affection.  The  mystic  chords  of  memory  stretch 
from  every  battle  field  and  patriotic  grave  to  every  heart  and 
hearth-stone  all  over  this  broad  land,  and  will  yet  swell  the 
chorus  of  the  Union,  when  again  touched,  as  surely  they  will 
be,  by  the  better  angels  of  their  nature."  I  envy  not  the 
American,  South  or  North,  who  can  read  these  inspired  lines 
without  emotion.  Allow  me  to  quote  here  a  paragraph  from 
President  Lincoln's  Inaugural  of  1865,  also : — "  With  malice 
towards  none,  with  charity  for  all,  with  firmness  in  the  right 
as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let  us  strive  on  to  finish  the 
work  we  are  in ;  to  bind  up  the  nation's  wounds ;  to  care  for 
him  who  shall  have  borne  the  battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and 
for  his  orphan;  to  do  all  that  may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just 
and  a  lasting  peace  among  ourselves  and  with  all  nations." 

These  two  Inaugurals  were  worthy  of  the  patriot  who  ut 
tered  them.  In  the  first,  in  1861,  he  earnestly  counseled,  with 
fatherly  solicitude,  reflection  and  moderation  on  the  part  of  the 
South  before  taking  the  rash  step  of  rebellion,  and,  in  the  sec 
ond,  which  was  virtually  the  last  recorded  expression  of  his 
wise  and  broad  statesmanship,  he  counseled  the  North,  with 
equal  fervor,  to  exercise  moderation  and  to  cultivate  fraternal 
feelings  towards  the  vanquished  South. 

The  restoration  of  the  Union  was  accepted  in  good  faith 
by  the  citizens  of  the  South.  There  was  not  a  single  case  of 
opposition  to  a  full  exercise  of  the  proper  functions  of  govern 
ment  in  any  section  of  the  late  Confederacy.  The  soldiers, 
statesmen,  and  citizens  of  both  sides  mingled  and  co-operated 
freely.  But  the  fair  promise  of  these  fraternal  relations  was 


AFTER   THE    WAR  235 

blighted  by  the  passage  and  execution  of  partisan  and  sectional 
measures  quite  out  of  harmony  with  President  Lincoln's  part 
ing  advice.  In  the  admirable  "  History  of  the  Growth  of  Amer 
ica,"  by  Professor  Henry  Pratt  Judson,  of  the  University  of 
Chicago,  may  be  found  the  following  graphic  description  of 
the  unfortunate  period  immediately  following  the  War : 

"  The  negroes  had  not  been  made  free  by  a  wise  process  of 
gradual  emancipation,  as  had  been  done  in  the  Northern  States  ; 
but  ties  which  bound  them  to  their  masters  were  rudely  burst 
by  war  and  a  sweeping  constitutional  amendment.  Thus  the 
mass  of  negroes,  untrained,  improvident,  ignorant,  and  shift 
less,  were  suddenly  thrown  on  their  own  resources.  To  main 
tain  social  order,  to  prevent  lawlessness  and  crime,  to  insure 
against  actual  starvation  and  a  relapse  into  barbarism  on  the 
part  of  the  negroes — this  was  no  easy  task The  re 
construction  of  the  Southern  States  under  the  plan  of  Congress, 
meant  Negro  suffrage.  The  blacks  very  generally  voted  and 
acted  as  a  mass  with  the  Republican  party,  as  was  natural, 
Their  leaders  were  in  general  adventurers  from  the  North  who 
saw  a  chance  for  prominence  in  the  solid  colored  vote,  though 
there  were  some  Southern  whites,  to  their  disgrace,  who  acted 
with  them.  The  negroes  found  an  eager  delight  in  politics, 
and  the  reconstructed  State  legislatures  were  filled  with 
them." 

It  was  certainly  without  justification,  as  it  was  without  pre 
cedent,  to  depress  intelligence  and  elevate  ignorance  as  was 
done  in  South  Carolina  by  disfranchising  the  white  property 
holders — hitherto  the  governing  class — and  conferring  suffrage 
on  the  illiterate  negro  population ;  and,  as  if  to  degrade  as  well 
as  to  despoil  the  impoverished  white  natives,  to  send  into  the 
State,  as  Federal  officeholders,  a  horde  of  dishonest  ad 
venturers  who  corrupted  the  ignorant  freedmen,  and,  with 
their  aid,  despoiled  the  owners  of  property  by  every  form  of 
official  and  legislative  misrule  known  to  knavery  and  despot 
ism.  If  this  was,  as  is  alleged,  an  Administration  measure  for 
the  protection  of  the  negro  on  the  one  hand,  and  for  the  punish 
ment  of  the  whites  for  rebellion  on  the  other,  it  was  a  measure 


236  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

in  as  clear  violation  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Constitu 
tion  as  the  attempted  secession. 

The  carpet-baggers  enriched  themselves  with  the  substance 
of  the  property  owners  of  both  races.  Catering  to  the  negroes' 
love  of  display,  they  bestowed  upon  them  nearly  all  the  honorary 
military  and  civil  offices,  but  retained  practically  all  the  salaried 
offices  for  themselves.  I  cannot  recall  a  single  high-salaried 
office  in  South  Carolina  (except,  perhaps,  the  postmastership 
in  Charleston  for  a  short  period)  which  was  not  filled  by  a 
white  carpet-bagger. 

The  South  Carolina  Legislature  was  almost  entirely  com 
posed  of  negroes  and  carpet-baggers.  The  military  forces 
were  chiefly  officered  by  negroes,  who  thus  satisfied  their  pas 
sion  for  fine  clothes.  The  Governor  was  an  illiterate  carpet 
bagger  from  Ohio ;  the  Lieutenant-Governor,  an  uneducated 
negro  wharf  laborer  whom  I  had  often  seen  at  work  upon 
the  Charleston  wharves ;  the  Chief  Justice  of  the  State  Court, 
an  ignorant  negro  from  Pennsylvania ;  the  State  Attorney  Gen 
eral,  the  only  educated  man  of  the  lot,  a  carpet-bagger  from 
New  England.  The  leader  in  the  Legislature,  who  was  also 
the  commander  of  the  State  Militia,  was  a  South  Carolina 
plantation  negro.  The  leader  in  the  Senate,  Senator  Raney, 
afterwards  a  member  of  Congress,  was  a  Charleston  barber  of 
whose  services,  as  well  as  of  those  of  his  father  before  him,  I 
had  often  availed  myself ;  he  was  the  only  colored  man  of  gen 
erally  recognized  intelligence  and  integrity  connected  with  the 
State  government,  and  he  was  deprived  ultimately  of  both 
his  State  senatorship  and  his  place  as  representative  to  make 
room  for  white  carpet-baggers.  The  Mayor  of  Charleston  was 
a  white  carpet-bagger  from  Maine ;  the  U.  S.  District  Attorney, 
a  white  carpet-bagger ;  and  the  Judges  of  the  State  Court,  white 
carpet-baggers. 

The  statistics  of  South  Carolina  for  1874  show  that  there 
were  200  negro  Trial  Justices  who  could  neither  read  nor 
write ;  and  the  negro  School  Commissioners,  equally  ignorant, 
were  paid  $1,000  a  year  for  their  services. 

Ex-Governor  Tillman  began  his  memorable  speech  before 


AFTER    THE    WAR  237 

the  Convention  of  South  Carolina,  in  November,  1895,  with 
a  vivid  description  of  the  condition  of  South  Carolina  when  the 
negro  was  in  power. 

In  eight  years,  according  to  this  erratic  but  truthful  author 
ity,  the  carpet-bag  government  collected  $10,165,114  in  taxes; 
more  than  $5,000,000  in  excess  of  the  expenses  of  the  govern 
ment.  A  barroom  was  opened  in  the  Senate  building  for 
State  officials,  Judges,  Senators,  Members  of  the  House,  law 
yers,  editors,  and  citizens  generally.  The  Legislature  blos 
somed  out  in  $600  clerks,  $8  cuspidores,  $200  crimson  plush 
sofas,  sponge  mattresses  and  oriental  pillows,  $60  plush  Gothic 
chairs,  $80  library  tables,  $30  hat  racks,  $50  desks,  $170  office 
desks,  $100  wardrobes,  body  brussels  carpeting,  finest  Havana 
cigars,  champagne,  $600  mirrors,  $600  brocatelle  curtains, 
lambrequins,  and  $80  walnut  and  gilt  cornices.  The  cost  of 
printing  during  the  eight  years  of  negro  rule  was  $717,589 — 
more  than  the  printing  bills  of  the  State  for  seventy-eight 
years  previous.  Fraud  reigned  supreme,  checks  were  altered, 
bonds  issued  illegally,  the  honor  and  credit  of  the  State 
dragged  in  the  dust. 

"  Why,"  cried  Tillman,  "  there  are  South  Carolina  bonds 
quoted  in  the  stock  lists  of  New  York  at  one  cent  on  the  dollar, 
to  the  shame  of  this  Commonwealth.  That  was  one  result  of 
negro  domination.  I  went  with  the  State  Treasurer  to  New 
York  two  years  ago  in  the  hope  of  floating  our  securities,  and 
we  were  dogged  by  the  agents  of  Henry  Clews,  who  said : 
'  Pay  these  bonds  that  bear  the  seal  of  your  State  or  you  can 
have  no  recognition  in  our  money  markets.' 

'  The  negroes  were  the  tools,  the  acknowledged  tools,  par 
ticipators,  the  willing  tools.  The  poor,  ignorant  cotton-field 
hands  blindly  followed  like  sheep  wherever  the  white  and 
black  leaders  told  them  to  go,  and  voted  unanimously  every 
time  for  the  Republican  ticket ;  and  these  results  were  achieved 
solely  and  wholly  by  reason  of  the  ballot  in  the  hands  of  such 
cattle." 

It  is  only  fair  to  admit,  however,  that  the  exclusion  of  white 
natives  from  the  Legislature  was  due  in  part  to  the  unwise 


238  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

neglect  of  the  reputable  white  element  to  use  its  influence.  I 
have  always  believed  that  the  more  conservative  negroes 
would  have  favored  this  element  if  their  old  masters  had  recog 
nized  and  co-operated  with  them  at  the  first. 

There  were  scallawag  natives,  to  be  sure,  who  were,  if  pos 
sible,  more  corrupt  than  the  strangers — notably  Governor 
Franklin  J.  Moses,  who  fled  the  Executive  Mansion  at  Colum 
bia  and  landed  eventually  in  a  Northern  state  prison ;  and 
there  were  among  the  so-called  carpet-baggers  honest,  capable, 
and  enterprising  men  who  were  not  accorded  by  the  natives 
the  sympathy  and  support  they  deserved. 

In  Charleston  I  became  acquainted  with  a  carpet-bagger 
from  Ohio,  "  General  Scott,"  as  he  was  called,  who  held  the 
office  of  Commissioner  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau.  He  per 
formed  the  duties  of  his  office  with  ability  and  firmness.  And 
it  is  simple  justice  to  remark  that  had  the  administration  of 
Mr.  Scott  as  Governor  of  the  State,  and  that  of  his  intelligent 
and  conservative  successor,  Chamberlain  of  Massachusetts,  re 
ceived  the  support  of  the  conservative  white  citizens  instead 
of  being  visited  with  constant  abuse  by  them,  much  might  have 
been  done  for  the  property  holders.  No  allowance  was  made 
for  the  relations  of  these  officials  to  their  party,  and  in  many 
cases  when  they  openly  antagonized  their  party  their  hands 
were  not  strengthened.  It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Ex-Gov 
ernor  Chamberlain,  as  an  active  member  of  the  Tax-payers' 
Convention,  made  an  able  speech  for  reform,  and  that  Gov 
ernor  Scott  expressed  active  sympathy  with  this  Convention. 

The  fact  that  I  aided  Governor  Scott  in  raising  funds  in 
New  York  to  enable  him  to  meet  the  expenses  of  the  State 
government  till  money  could  be  raised  by  taxation,  brought  me 
into  a  degree  of  business  intimacy  with  him  which  had  to  be 
suspended  later,  as  he  came  under  party  control  and  the  legis 
lative  frauds  began  to  develop.  It  is  my  opinion,  however,  that 
Scott  was  a  mere  tool,  and  reaped  but  little  if  any  benefit  from 
the  frauds  with  which  he  became  more  or  less  entangled. 

On  one  occasion,  while  I  was  in  Columbia,  he  requested  me 
to  accompany  him  to  the  Assembly  Chamber,  where,  in  a  com- 


AFTER   THE    WAR  239 

mittee  room,  I  was  introduced  to  a  large  number  of  the  As 
sembly  members  and  political  leaders,  who  were  drinking 
whisky  from  a  large  keg,  the  faucet  of  which  was  kept  open 
as  long  as  we  remained,  since  visitors  wrere  constantly  coming 
and  going. 

The  morning  fixed  for  the  adjournment  of  one  of  the  South 
Carolina  assemblies  (that  of  1873,  I  think),  a  member  moved 
that  the  House  adjourn  for  three  hours  to  witness  a  race  be 
tween  the  horses  of  the  white  Speaker,  Moses,  and  the  colored 
leader,  Whippen.  It  was  arranged,  the  maker  of  the  motion 
said,  that  carriages  should  convey  members  to  and  from  the 
race  course  promptly,  and  the  business  of  the  day  would  suffer 
but  little  by  the  two  or  three  hours'  interruption.  On  the 
return  of  the  Assemblymen  from  the  races,  the  business  of  the 
House,  which  consisted  chiefly  of  resolutions  of  thanks  to 
committees  and  chairmen  of  committees,  was  quickly  dis 
patched.  Mr.  Whippen,  wrhose  horse  had  won  the  race  over 
that  the  speaker,  moved  that  a  $6000  gratuity  be  given  to 
the  Speaker  for  his  arduous  labors  during  the  session.  The 
motion  was  unanimously  carried,  and  Moses  turned  the  money 
over  to  WThippen  in  payment  of  the  racing  debt  he  had  just 
contracted. 

It  must  not  be  lost  sight  of  that  the  defeated  Secessionists 
were  of  Revolutionary  stock,  and  while  they  deserved  and, 
indeed,  received  ample  correction  for  their  disloyalty  to  the 
National  Government,  the  infliction  upon  them  of  an  ignorant 
and  corrupt  negro  and  carpet-bag  government  was  unworthy 
of  modern  civilization,  and  has  brought  down  on  the  parties 
responsible  therefor  the  indignation  of  every  genuine  lover 
of  civil  liberty. 

The  irregularities  and  violence  of  this  period  at  the  South, 
which  have  been  very  much  exaggerated  for  partisan  purposes, 
were  largely  the  outcome  of  indignant  opposition  to  carpet 
bag  and  negro  misrule,  and  were  never  directed  against  the 
laws  or  the  officials  of  the  United  States.  They  were  the 
inevitable  result  of  the  partisan  attempt  to  set  aside  the  Ameri 
can  right  of  local  self-government  by  the  introduction  of  corrupt 


24o  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

adventurers  from  abroad.  It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  as  soon 
as  the  people  of  the  Southern  States  were  permitted  to  govern 
themselves,  perfect  peace  was  at  once  restored  and  submission 
to  law  became  there  a  matter  of  pride. 

In  the  years  immediately  succeeding  the  Civil  War  I  re 
ceived  from  my  impoverished  Southern  acquaintances  nu 
merous  appeals  for  help,  a  few  of  which  I  present  herewith 
because  they  depict,  better  than  pages  of  description  could,  the 
deplorable  conditions  for  which  that  conflict  was  directly  or 
indirectly  responsible,  and  give  an  admirable  idea  of  the 
courage  with  which  these  conditions  were  met: 

"  GEORGETOWN,  March  23,   1865. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ. 

"My  Dear  Sir: — You  are  doubtless  aware  that  this  place 
has  been  occupied  by  the  United  States'  forces  for  some  weeks. 
Several  families  remain  here,  mine  among  the  rest.  We  have 
been  treated  kindly.  The  negroes  (now  liberated)  remain  for 
the  most  part  on  the  plantations;  but  whether  or  not  a  crop 
will  be  made,  is  a  question  yet  to  be  determined.  If  not,  the 
consequences  will  be  appalling.  Having  been  shut  out  from 
the  rest  of  the  world  for  four  years,  we  are  (I  speak  more 
particularly  of  myself,  but  have  not  a  doubt  that  my  brother 
rebels  are  all  in  the  same  predicament),  destitute  of  almost 
everything — sugar,  tea  and  coffee  are  among  the  luxuries  that 
were.  Our  condition  is  not  likely  to  improve  very  soon,  and 
if  the  war  continues  much  longer,  must  become  worse. 

"  In  such  an  exigency,  I  have  on  reflection  and  from  my 
knowledge  of  your  kindness  and  liberality,  determined  to  apply 
to  you  for  aid.  The  only  security  I  can  give  you  is  my  char 
acter.  Your  knowledge  of  this,  will,  I  trust,  be  a  sufficient 
guarantee  for  any  advance  you  may  determine  to  make  for 
me.  I  have  hurriedly  prepared  a  list  of  such  things  as  we 
require,  including  medicines,  and  shall  inclose  it  with  this  to 
you.  In  addition,  I  will  also  want  some  money  (one  or  two 
hundred  dollars).  We  have  now  to  hire  our  servants  and  I 
have  no  greenbacks,  and  with  things  in  their  present  chaotic 


AFTER    THE    WAR  241 

condition,  cannot  make  any.  Mr.  Fraser  wrote  to  Dolner  & 
Potter  on  the  same  business  as  I  now  write  to  you  about,  and 
should  you  accede  to  my  earnest  request,  perhaps  you  had  best 
confer  with  them  as  to  the  manner  of  having  the  goods  brought 
here.  Pray  write  to  me  at  your  earliest  convenience. 
"  Very  respectfully  and  truly  yours, 


"  Two  calico  and  one  gingham  dress  for  Mrs.  -  — ,  light 
mourning — the  same  for  each  of  my  two  daughters,  grave 
colors — two  dozen  pairs  of  ladies'  stockings — two  dozen  cheap 
linen  cambric  handks. — two  pieces  cotton  shirting — twenty 
yards  white  flannel — six  pair  thicksoled  serviceable  ladies' 
shoes,  No.  3^ — three  pairs  of  the  same  No.  4 — two  pairs  shoes 
for  myself,  No.  6^ — three  papers  large  and  three  of  small  pins 
—four  papers  7,  8  &  9  needles — 6  dozen  hooks  and  eyes — I 
bar  Castile  soap — a  dozen  assorted  spool  cotton — I  ounce  black 
sewing  silk — I  dozen  pieces  tape — three  pair  of  scissors — thiee 
hair-brushes  and  four  combs — six  tooth-brushes — three  silver 
thimbles  No.  7 — one  large  umbrella. 

"  Groceries ;  one  barrel  wheat  flour — one  do.  potatoes — one 
barrel  of  beef — one  do.  of  pork — five  hundred  pounds  of  bacon, 
ham  and  sides — two  hundred  pounds  of  sugar  (clarified)  — 
one  hundred  pounds  Java  coffee — six  pounds  best  Hyson  tea — 
five  gallons  brandy — five  gallons  whisky — five  gallons  brown 
sherry  wine — one  firkin  of  best  butter — 100  Ibs.  lard — black 
pepper  2  Ibs.,  allspice  2  Ibs. — nutmegs  \  Ib. — one  box  adaman 
tine  candles  or  sperm. 

"  i  piece  cheap  calico  for  servants. 

"  List  of  Medicines. 

Quinine,  ounces  4  Es.  of  Peppermint,  ounces  6 

Gum  Opium,  ounces  2  Paregoric,  ounces  12 

Pulv.  Opium,  ounces  2  Laudanum,  ounces  6 

Hippo,  ounces  2  Chloroform,  ounces  12 

Pulv.  Rhubard,  ounces  2  Hartshorn,  ounces  12 

Calomel,  ounces  2  Dover's  Powders,  ounces  2 

Blue  Mass,  ounces  4  Camp.  Dov.  Powder,  ounces  2 


242   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Epsom  Salts,  pounds  2  Morphine,  drachms  3 

Rochelle  Salts,  pounds  I  Citrate  of  Iron,  ounces  i 

Gum  Arabic,  pounds  2  Gum  Camphor,  ounces  12 

Citrate  of  Potash,  pounds  J  Tinct.    Veratrum   Viride, 

Carb.  of  Potash  (Salts  of                 ounces  2 

Tartar),  pounds  J  Tinct.  of  Aconite,  ounces  2 

Citric  Acid,  pounds  -J  Syrup  of  Hippo,  ounces  4 

Soda  (Carbonate),  pounds  i  Hive  Syrup,  ounces  2 

Castor  Oil,  bottles  2  Magnesia    (Henry's    cal- 

Sweet  Oil,  bottles  3          cined),  phials  4 

Mustard,  Ibs.  2  Cream  of  Tartar,  Ibs.  i 

Blister  plaster,  Ibs.  \  Ginger,  Ibs.  i 

Nitrate  of  Silver,  drachms  2  Es.  Jamaica  Ginger,  bot.  6 

"  GEORGETOWN,  March  29,  1865. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  took  the  liberty  of  addressing  a  letter  to 
you  a  few  days  ago,  and  I  believe  it  has  been  forwarded,  per 
haps  received.  My  object  in  writing  was  to  ask  for  what  I 
have  never  asked  before — pecuniary  aid.  I  mentioned  in  that 
letter  that  the  only  security  I  could  give  for  the  return  of  what 
you  may  be  disposed  to  advance,  was  my  character.  This  War 
luckily  found  me  out  of  debt.  All  property  in  slaves  is  value 
less  (I  write  now  as  if  the  War  was  at  an  end,  for  I  must 
believe  it  very  soon  will  be,  and  that  we  of  the  South  have  been 
fairly  whipped).  What  remains  of  my  estate  will  be  real 
estate,  bank  stocks  &  individual  securities — all  once  good,  some, 
now  probably,  good  for  nothing.  There  is  no  doubt  that  all 
will  be  much  depreciated  in  value  and  wholly  unavailable  for 
some  time  to  come,  as  a  source  of  revenue.  To  the  above  may 
be  added  my  profession  once  lucrative,  but  now  yielding  no 
return.  I  think  it  proper  to  make  the  above  statement.  In 
this  emergency,  I  was  forced  to  look  around  and  determine 
what  course  to  pursue  to  avert  actual  starvation.  No  more 
probable  mode  of  temporary  relief  presented  itself  to  my  mind, 
than  an  application  to  you  such  as  I  have  already  made.  I 
asked  for  a  loan  sufficient  to  supply  a  limited  amount  of  food, 


AFTER    THE    WAR  243 

clothing,  medicine  and  groceries — together  with  a  few  hundred 
dollars  in  money.  I  named  one  or  two  hundred  dollars,  but 
it  should  have  been  on  further  reflection,  four  or  five  hundred. 
A  memorandum  of  what  was  immediately  wanted  was  enclosed. 
The  liquors  should  have  been  placed  under  the  head  of  medi 
cines,  for  it  is  for  this  purpose  they  are  principally  wanted. 
I  lost  a  patient  a  few  weeks  ago,  a  lady  of  high  position  and 
one  whom  you  once  knew,  for  the  want  of  stimulants.  I  be 
lieve  that  a  bottle  of  brandy  would  have  saved  her  life.  I  did 
not  of  course  expect  you,  occupied  as  you  are,  to  attend  per 
sonally  to  the  details  of  my  letter — this  could  be  accomplished 
by  the  instrumentality  of  others — and  I  beg  that  you  will  not 
consider  me  so  unwise  or  inconsiderate,  as  to  attempt  thus  to 
impose  on  you.  I  mentioned  also  in  the  letter  alluded  to, 
that  Mr.  Eraser  had  written  to  Dolner,  Potter  &  Co.,  on  pretty 
much  the  same  business  as  I  had  to  you,  and  advised  in  the 
event  of  your  complying  with  my  wishes,  that  you  would 
consult  with  them  as  to  the  procuring  a  permit  and  safe  con 
veyance  to  this  place,  not  yet  declared  a  port  of  entry.  The 
Government  would  hardly  condemn  us  to  a  lingering  death 
by  starvation ;  our  only  supply  must  be  from  abroad.  Your 
known  kindness  and  liberality,  your  ample  means,  your  knowl 
edge  of  myself,  our  former  friendly  intercourse  and  personal 
regard  for  each  other  (for  allow  me  to  say,  and  I  do  so  with 
the  utmost  sincerity,  that  among  the  names  associated  with 
some  of  my  most  pleasant  reminiscences  of  the  past,  is  the 
name  of  Richard  Lathers),  all  of  these  considerations  seem 
to  justify  me  in  thus  calling  upon  you. 

"  I  could  fill  a  sheet  or  more  with  details  of  the  situation  of 
affairs  here  and  in  the  neighborhood,  all  of  which  would  be 
interesting  to  you,  acquainted  as  you  are  with  everything  and 
everybody  here,  but  I  suppose  it  would  not  be  proper  for  me 
to  do  so.  Suffice  it  to  say  that  we  have  felt  this  war  in  all 
its  horrors.  What  further  suffering  yet  awaits  us,  the  All-wise 
God  alone  knows.  Perhaps  (and  there  are  grave  reasons  for 
the  thought)  the  scenes  of  St.  Domingo  may  be  re-enacted  here. 
As  to  the  destruction  of  life,  you  may  judge  of  the  extent  of 


244  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

this  by  one  fact  which  I  may  be  allowed  to  relate.  The  George 
town  Rifle  Guards  numbered  at  the  time  they  left  home  for 
the  seat  of  war  in  the  west,  one  hundred  twenty-five  or  six  men. 
Of  this  company  (company  A,  loth  regiment)  there  are  not 
ten  survivors  fit  for  duty ;  the  rest  were  killed  in  battle  or  died 
in  the  hospitals  or  have  been  maimed.  This  company  was 
composed  in  large  part  of  young  men  from  this  place.  We  had 
also  a  large  representation  in  Virginia,  most  of  whom  have 
fallen.  Death  has  also  been  busy  among  those  who  did  not 
participate  in  the  strife.  Many  of  our  former  friends  have 
found  a  quiet  resting-place  in  the  grave,  since  the  War  began. 
I  will  soon  follow  them. 

"  Excuse  my  trespassing  so  long  on  your  time.  I  shall  await 
with  considerable  anxiety  your  reply  to  this.  Does  our  former 
friend,  Mr.  Joseph  Thurston,  still  survive?  Should  he  still  be 
among  the  living,  when  you  see  him,  remember  me  very  kindly 
to  him. 

"  I  am  my  dear  Sir, 

"  Very  respectfully  and  truly  Yours, 


The  writer  of  the  above  two  letters  was  my  family  physician. 
He  was  not  only  distinguished  in  his  profession,  but  was  a 
social  leader  as  well,  and  dispensed  a  lavish  hospitality.  Most 
of  his  inherited  property  was  swept  away  by  the  ravages  of 
war  and  the  emancipation  of  his  slaves.  But  he  weathered 
the  storm  better  than  most  of  the  Southern  gentlemen  because 
he  had  a  large  medical  practice  to  fall  back  upon,  which  stood 
him  in  good  stead  in  the  long  run. 

u  CHARLESTON,  7  June,  1865. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York. 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  received  your  very  kind  message  through  my 
friend,  J.  S.  Gibbs,  Esq.  I  need  not  say  I  thank  you  for  the 
invitation  to  my  daughters,  but  we  are  compelled  to  decline  it 
as  ready  money  is  entirely  out  of  the  question  with  us.  They 
are  and  have  been  living,  through  the  War,  at  our  plantation. 
Our  city  residence  was  destroyed  early  in  the  War.  I  have 


AFTER   THE    WAR  245 

been  a  good  deal  robbed  by  Confederate  and  United  States 
forces,  still  I  have,  I  hope,  enough  left  to  live.  At  present  our 
serious  difficulty  is  in  the  fact  of  the  total  destruction  by  Gen. 
Sherman  of  all  means  of  transportation.  He  destroyed  all 
rail-roads  and  took  all  my  horses,  so  that  cotton,  which  is  all 
that  is  left  on  which  to  raise  money,  is  unavailable.  I  am 
here  trying  to  start  our  Bank  again.  Our  assets  consist  almost 
entirely  of  Rail-road  Bonds  and  State  Stocks,  etc.  Never  hav 
ing  any  confidence  in  Confederate  I  kept  as  clear  as  I  could  of 
it ;  still  we  shall  lose  largely,  for  do  what  you  would  it  resulted 
in  Confederate  money. 

"How  and  where  is  our  friend,  Thurston?  I  heard  from 
him  but  once  during  the  War.  He  was  then  in  Dublin,  Ireland, 
and  in  bad  health.  I  had  anticipated  his  wishes  and  employed 
Mitchell  &  Whaley  to  defend  his  property.  It  was  saved  from 
confiscation  and  stands  about  as  when  he  left,  except  some 
of  the  Parties  are  badly  crippled  by  War.  I  enclose  him  and 
his  family  my  kindest  regards.  I  have  some  idea  of  starting 
a  National  Bank.  What  do  you  think  of  it  as  a  system?  I 
can  see  fair  profits  in  it  if  your  public  debt  will  ever  be  paid. 
Will  not  repudiation  find  many  advocates,  North  and  South? 
I  would  like  your  views  on  this  matter  as  I  have  lost  enough 
without  adding  to  my  losses  by  injudicious  investments.  If 
I  start  it  and  you  and  Mr.  Thurston  are  able,  I  would  like 
to  have  you  take  some  stock  as  money  is  very  scarce  with  me, 
and  I  shall  not  be  able  to  go  as  strong  as  I  could  wish  into  it 
without  temporary  aid  from  my  friends  in  getting  started. 
I  don't  know  but  I  may  come  on  in  Aug.  or  Sept.  for  a 
few  days,  but  this  depends  as  yet  on  too  much  uncertainty 
for  me  to  say  I  will  see  you  personally. 

"  Mr.  Jas.  S.  Gibbs,  who  will  be  one  of  the  Directors,  if  I 
undertake  it,  has  written  Messrs.  Duncan,  Sherman  &  Co.  about 
it.  I  have  been  making  nothing  for  4  years  and  want  just 
for  the  novelty  of  the  matter  to  try  and  make  something. 

"  Present  me  most  kindly  to  Mrs.  Lathers. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  D.  L.  McKAY." 


246  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  CHARLESTON,  8  July,  1865. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York. 

"  My  Dea/r  Sir: — I  thank  you  most  sincerely  for  your  kind 
ness  in  allowing  me  to  draw  as  I  may  need  to  the  extent  of 
$3000.  I  hope  to  be  able  to  get  along  without  being  trouble 
some  to  my  friends.  If  I  can  get  my  Mississippi  cotton  to 
market  (I  own  100  Bales)  I  shall  be  independent.  If  I  can't 
do  this,  I  shall  use  your  kind  offer,  but  shall  not  do  so  till 
I  see  you  unless  some  very  unforeseen  event  occurs. 

"  When  you  write  Mr.  Thurston  tell  him  his  property  stands 
very  much  as  when  he  left.  I  collected  only  his  dividends  and 
paid  his  taxes.  I  refused  to  receive  any  bonds  or  interest  on 
bonds.  I  had  a  hard  contest  to  keep  his  property  from  con 
fiscation.  Employed  Mitchell  &  Whaley.  Mitchell  is  since 
dead.  Whaley  I  suppose  you  have  seen,  as  he  told  me  he 
would  go  to  New  York  on  his  way  home  from  Washington. 

"  President  Johnson  will  be  popular  at  the  South  I  think. 
The  appointment  of  Collector  here  was  very  unfortunate.  He 
is  either  a  very  much  slandered  man  or  it  would  be  very  diffi 
cult  to  find  anyone  of  less  character  in  the  city  who  makes 
any  claim  to  respectability.  I  never  saw  or  heard  of  him  till 
he  was  feasted  in  your  city.  His  speech  on  that  occasion  was 
a  slander  on  Charleston.  You  know  I  always  express  my 
opinions  with  freedom  and,  being  opposed  to  the  whole  Seces 
sion  business,  I  would  be  as  apt  to  have  known  it  as  anyone 
in  the  city  if  any  abridgment  of  the  freedom  of  speech  had 
occurred. 

'  The  destruction  of  property  in  this  State  by  Gen.  Sher 
man  would  have  disgraced  the  leader  of  the  worst  vandals  of 
Ancient  Rome.  In  Columbia  alone,  1400  families  had  not 
only  their  houses  burned,  but  all  furniture  and  provisions 
wantonly  destroyed.  His  track  through  the  State  will  be  easily 
traced  for  years  to  come  and  when  History  comes  to  do  its 
duty,  he  will  be  branded  with  that  infamy  which  the  greatest 
rabble  of  modern  times  justly  merits. 

"  Yours  very  truly, 

"  D.  L.  McKAY." 


AFTER   THE    WAR  247 

The  writer  of  the  above  letters  was  one  of  my  early  bene 
factors,  and  has  been  referred  to  a  number  of  times  in  these 
"  Reminiscences." 

"  CHARLESTON,  i3th  January,  1866. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — The  war  being  over  we  of  the  South  have 
gone  to  work  to  attempt  to  rebuild  our  ruined  fortunes.  If  I 
know  the  people  of  our  State  the  Union  is  restored  in  spite  of 
the  speeches  of  the  Abolition  leaders.  Our  people  have  ac 
cepted,  and  honestly  accepted  the  result  of  the  war.  It  would 
be  false  to  say  that  we  would  not  have  wished  that  the  decision 
of  arms  had  been  otherwise,  but  we  accept  it  as  it  is,  feeling 
assured  that  both  sections  were  perfectly  honest.  I  for  one 
am  disposed  to  believe  that  the  real  question  at  issue  was 
State  Rights  vs.  Centralization,  and  the  result  of  the  war  was 
apparently  the  destruction  of  State  Rights,  but  as  I  learn 
from  my  reading  of  history  that  the  middle  ground  is  always 
the  correct  position  and  that  all  great  political  and  civil  contests 
eventually  end  in  compromise,  I  am  disposed  to  believe  that 
the  true  result  of  the  bitter  contest  through  which  we  have 
passed  may  be  a  government  more  perfect  than  the  one  which 
we  formerly  had,  a  government  embracing  all  that  is  good 
and  leaving  out  all  that  is  evil  in  the  principles  of  both  Northern 
and  Southern  statesmen,  a  government  which  eventually  may 
embrace  within  its  limits  every  part  of  the  continent  of  North 
America. 

"  I  have  opened  my  office  in  Charleston  and  send  you  my 
card,  feeling  assured  that  you  will  for  auld  lang  syne  do 
anything  in  your  power  to  serve  a  native  of  your  native  district, 
old  Georgetown.  At  any  time  that  you  may  have  leisure  I 
would  be  pleased  to  hear  from  you. 

"  Very  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

"  J.  BARRETT  COHEN.'' 

[A  leading  member  of  the  Charleston  bar.] 


248   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  CHARLESTON,  June  9,  1865. 
"  MR.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York. 

"Dear  Sir: — While  the  sword  was  drawn,  I  wrote  you  and 
proved  that  even  war  had  not  obliterated  the  memory  of  the 
past.  I  feel  grateful  to  you  for  the  kindness  you  extended  to 
my  boy  when  a  prisoner  and  thank  you  for  it.  I  acknowledge 
the  debt  of  $25  and,  when  I  can,  I  will  pay  it  with  interest. 
In  the  meanwhile,  we  are  utterly  ruined  and  penniless  and  I 
must  beg  you  to  wait  until  we  can  in  some  wise  recover.  I 
rest  upon  the  kindness  shown  to  venture  a  letter  to  you  now. 
I  wish  to  ask  that  you  will  write  me  a  full  state  of  things  with 
regard  to  us,  for  information  is  scarce.  What  is  the  design 
and  temper  of  the  Northern  people — for  that  is  the  power 
behind  the  throne?  Is  it  the  utter  destruction  of  this  people 
and  country?  Do  they  wish  to  push  us  out  of  the  land  or 
to  drive  us  to  desperation?  Will  the  freedom  of  the  world 
be  thus  advanced?  Will  the  prosperity  of  a  nation  be  advanced 
by  such  a  determination?  We  will  not  speak  of  the  past  or 
its  issues.  God  has  permitted  the  cause  to  go  against  us. 
While  it  must  be  admitted  we  struggled  hard,  fought  well, 
endured  privations  which  never  can  be  known,  yet  we  are, 
as  a  people,  willing  to  accept.  Not  as  if  we  lived  in  the  time 
of  Dionysius  of  Syracuse,  but  in  the  nineteenth  century,  we 
would  cheerfully  throw  ourselves  into  the  new  order  of  things 
and  co-operate  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos.  You  know  I  have 
an  extensive  acquaintance  and  some  little  influence.  I  have 
traveled  this  State  over,  every  part  of  it,  in  the  last  three 
months,  and  unless  our  total  subjugation  and  ruin  is  the  policy, 
if  there  is  any  purpose  of  recognizing  us  as  free  white  men  I 
think  I  have  declared  the  temper  of  us  all.  All  your  old 
friends  are  utterly  ruined.  Those  who  invested  in  lands,  the 
charity  which  does  not  exceed  over  $20,000  leaves  them  out; 
those,  in  negroes,  they  are  gone ;  those  in  Confederate  securi 
ties,  of  course  are  worthless ;  those  who  bought  gold  and  put 
it  away,  almost  without  exception  it  was  forced  from  them ; 
if  the  negroes  did  not  betray  it,  parties  were  hung  and  beat 
and  every  indignity  and  outrage  perpetrated  and  all  taken. 


AFTER   THE    WAR  249 

My  home  in  Charleston  was  literally  gutted — not  a  thing  left 
in  it.  I  wish  you  would  come  on  here  for  auld  lang  syne 
sake,  just  to  see  the  state  of  things.  Your  heart  would  bleed 
for  us.  Negroes  garrison  everywhere,  and  the  swagger  and 
insolence  of  temporary  and  unaccustomed  power  is  borne. 
But,  my  friend,  put  yourself  in  the  same  conditions.  The 
Southern  negroes  are  far  worse  than  those  from  the  North. 
All  appointments  of  employment  for  our  young  men  are  re 
fused;  and  it  is  not  the  past  but  the  present  and  the  future. 
And,  my  friend,  if  overpowered,  we  are  still  near  eight  millions 
of  what  were  once  free  white  men,  if  a  negro's  word,  for  the 
time,  is  as  good  or  better  than  any.  You  have  read  history; 
you  know  human  nature.  I  dread  under  present  aspects  the 
hour  when  the  heart  can  stand  no  more,  and  the  pent-up  feel 
ings  result  in  a  hopeless  but  a  fearful  holocaust  of  blood. 
Cannot  the  North  afford  to  be  magnanimous?  Few  govern 
ments  have  had  a  harder  struggle  to  maintain  its  sway,  and 
none  have  shown  as  gigantic  power.  Will  it  add  to  the  hap 
piness  or  welfare  of  you  all  that  we  perish?  In  one  point 
of  view  the  North  should  be  grateful  to  the  South  for  the 
opportunity  afforded  by  our  fruitless  revolution  to  show  the 
resources  and  power  of  the  country — and  the  two  countries. 
The  power  and  magnificence  is  almost  fearful  to  contemplate. 
We  are  now  subjected  to  all  the  petty  tyranny  of  small  men 
who  come  after  success  in  battle  and  we  are  trying  to  be 
patient.  We  can  bear  these  things  for  a  while,  if  we  can 
see  hope  beyond  in  the  Government.  You  will  excuse  the 
frankness  of  this  letter,  but  you  know  I  love  my  people.  I 
love  the  human  race;  my  life  is  dedicated  to  do  good,  and  I 
wish  to  be  able  to  cheer  hearts  which  are  full  of  woe  and 
well-nigh  broken.  My  Sunday-school  room  has  been  taken 
from  me  by  Redpath  and  made  a  negro  school  of.  My  church 
I  have  not  yet  gotten,  but  expect  to-day  to  have  permission 
to  open  it. 

"  My  oldest,  bright-eyed,  beautiful  first-born  was  taken  last 
October  in  his  eleventh  year  by  yellow  fever.  My  utter  poverty, 
all  the  indignities  I  have  been  subjected  to,  are  nothing  to  this 


250  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

one  heart  sorrow;  it  has  bowed  me  to  the  earth.  I  trust  it 
has  brought  me  nearer  to  the  Cross.  My  kind  regards  to 
your  family,  to  Dr.  Taylor  if  you  ever  see  him,  and  believe  me 
still  the  same. 

"  Your  friend, 

"  A.  TOOMER  PORTER. 

"  P.  S. — The  planters  in  Cooper  River  have  all  made  con 
tracts  with  the  negroes;  so  far  the  result  is  that  they  work  just 
when  they  please  and  seed  will  not  be  made  in  the  wide  dis 
trict." 

"  CHARLESTON,  June  i8th,  1865. 
"  COL.  RICHARD  LATHERS,  New  York. 

"Dear  Sir: — I  hope  you  received  my  last.  Living  here  is 
almost  unbearable.  We  are  under  the  rule  of  a  miserable  set 
of  petty  tyrants  whose  reign  disgraces  the  age  and  any  nation. 
Mr.  Trenholm  was  brought  to  Charleston  from  Columbia  under 
arrest,  sent  to  the  common  jail  under  a  negro  guard  like  a 
felon,  given  prison  fare  and  put  on  a  miserable  bundle  of  straw 
brought  from  a  hospital,  all  intercourse  and  even  pen  and  ink 
denied  him.  We  at  length  succeeded  in  getting  to  him  and 
have  made  him  more  comfortable  and  he  was  taken  on  Saturday 
to  Fort  Pulaski.  It  is  a  huge  mistake.  The  blood  of  the 
martyrs  is  the  seed  of  the  church.  No  man  from  his  influence 
and  ability  could  do  more  than  he  to  bring  order  out  of  chaos— 
that  is,  if  that  is  the  wish  of  the  government.  I  know  he  is 
ready  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  to  lend  all  his  aid  to 
carry  out  the  policy  of  these  disjointed  times.  This  sudden 
emancipation  is  the  ruin  of  the  country,  and  the  negroes  they 
are  dying  at  a  fearful  rate.  For  heaven's  sake  do  all  you  can 
for  Mr.  Trenholm !  The  negro  troops  down  here  prevent  all 
order  or  system  with  the  negroes,  besides  the  painful  humilia 
tion  to  us.  This  I  presume  is  intended.  But  is  it  magnani 
mous?  Is  it  generous?  Is  it  sound  policy?  If  the  United 
States  must  be  disgraced  by  having  them  in  its  army  why  are 
they  not  sent  to  the  frontiers?  Depend  upon  it  no  good  will 
result  in  keeping  them  here  much  longer.  Can  nothing  be 


AFTER   THE    WAR  251 

done  to  get  them  away?     Our  people  are  willing  to  conform 
to  the  government,  but  the  present  policy  only  makes  hatred 
rankle,  if  silent,  in  the  heart.     I  write  to  you  freely.     .     .     . 
"  I  am  very  truly  yours, 

"  A.  TOOMER  PORTER/' 

These  last  two  letters  came  from  one  of  the  most  energetic 
of  the  clergymen  of  the  South,  who  has  been  since  the  War 
the  most  earnest  and  effective  reconstructive  force  in  the  State 
of  South  Carolina.  Dr.  Porter  was  a  native  of  my  own  town 
of  Georgetown,  and  deserves  to  rank  with  Dr.  Thomas  House 
Taylor,  another  native  of  that  place,  for  usefulness  in  his 
church.  Shortly  after  the  war  he  paid  me  a  visit  at  my  New 
Rochelle  residence  and  desired  an  opportunity  to  preach  in 
Trinity  Church  where  I  was  a  warden.  Notice  was  given 
that  a  clergyman  from  South  Carolina  would  preach  and  solicit 
contributions  to  a  fund  to  restore  the  library  of  the  Diocese 
of  that  State,  which  had  been  destroyed  during  the  war. 

Dr.  Porter  was  very  tall  and  thin,  and  even  a  little  cadav 
erous  from  the  hardships  of  the  campaigns  in  which  he  had 
served  as  the  Chaplain  of  a  Confederate  regiment,  and  his 
figure  presented  a  most  striking  aspect  when  he  rose  in  his 
pulpit.  He  looked  all  around  the  church  with  great  delibera 
tion,  as  if  to  make  the  acquaintance  of  every  one  of  the 
congregation,  while  he  announced  his  text,  "  I  am  Joseph,  your 
brother  " ;  after  which  he  paused  long  enough  for  his  audience 
to  recognize  properly  their  kinsman  from  the  South,  who 
had  come  back  to  the  Union  household.  He  began  his  sermon 
by  giving  a  graphic  account  of  the  Biblical  story  of  Joseph,  and 
applied  it  to  the  returning  South.  He  said  that  the  South, 
being  a  favorite  in  the  Union — as  Joseph  was  with  his  father 
— no  doubt  took  on  airs  which  quite  naturally  proved  offen 
sive.  Yet  God  preserved  Joseph  with  all  his  sins ;  and,  as 
Joseph  lived  to  comfort  his  father  in  his  old  age,  and  to 
co-operate  with  his  brethren  for  the  family  interest,  so  the 
South  would  come,  he  believed,  to  take  its  proper  place  in  the 
great  family  of  the  Union.  He  laid  before  the  congregation 


252  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  loss  of  the  Diocesan  Library,  and  told  how,  many  years 
before  the  War,  the  South  Carolina  Diocese  had  contributed 
largely  for  just  such  a  brotherly  purpose  to  a  Northern  diocese. 

The  result  of  this  appeal  was  the  largest  collection  I  had 
ever  known  to  be  taken  up  for  any  purpose  in  Trinity  parish. 

Dr.  Porter's  now  celebrated  educational  institution  in 
Charleston  was  due  primarily  to  the  generosity  of  a  North 
erner,  John  C.  Hoadley  of  Massachusetts. 

Mr.  Hoadley  was  a  friend  and  associate  of  Charles  Sumner 
in  the  political  struggles  preceding  the  war,  and,  like  Charles 
Sumner,  became,  after  the  war,  a  zealous  advocate  of  the 
rights  of  the  South  in  opposition  to  carpet-bag  domination 
and  in  opposition  to  the  desecration  of  the  national  flag  by 
recording  in  its  folds  the  defeats  of  Americans.  He  was  an 
enthusiastic  mechanical  engineer,  and  was  one  of  the  promoters 
and  an  original  trustee  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Tech 
nology.  After  serving  as  Superintendent  of  the  celebrated 
Lawrence  Machine  Shop  and  other  enterprises  for  many  years 
— during  which  he  was  the  sole  support  of  his  mother  and 
six  sisters — he  invented  an  economical  engine  adapted  to  plan 
tation  use,  for  which  he  found  a  large  and  profitable  market 
at  the  South.  The  breaking  out  of  the  Civil  War  deprived 
him  not  only  of  this  source  of  income,  but  utterly  destroyed 
the  possibility  of  collecting  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  already 
effected  there.  In  this  exigency  he  wrote  to  me  asking  me 
to  aid  him  by  finding  purchasers  among  my  returning  South 
ern  friends  for  his  checks  on  certain  banks  against  collections 
they  had  made  on  his  account.  I  was  unable  to  find  pur 
chasers  for  his  Southern  exchange,  because  persons  returning 
to  the  South  had  barely  money  enough  to  pay  the  expenses  of 
their  return.  After  the  War,  however,  I  succeeded,  while  on 
a  visit  to  Charleston,  in  collecting  for  Mr.  Hoadley  from  the 
banks  a  modest  sum — three  or  four  thousand  dollars,  I  think. 
When  I  apprised  Mr.  Hoadley  of  this  success,  he  immediately 
wrote  me :  "A  thousand  thanks  for  your  good  offices.  '  One 
good  turn  deserves  another.'  I  presume  that  your  churches 
have  lost  all  their  bells.  Do  me  the  favor  of  selecting  the  most 


AFTER    THE    WAR  253 

needy  and  present  to  it  in  your  own  name  this  money,  which 
I  think  will  purchase  a  good  bell — to  give  Charleston  again 
the  cheering  sound  of  a  call  to  worship,  so  long  hushed  by 
the  devastations  of  war." 

I  immediately  called  on  my  friend,  Dr.  Porter,  and  offered 
to  purchase  a  bell  for  his  church.  He  earnestly  requested 
me  to  give  him  the  money  towards  establishing  an  academy 
for  young  men  without  means  whom  he  desired  to  educate 
for  future  usefulness.  I  at  once  agreed  to  make  the  sug 
gestion  to  Mr.  Hoadley,  provided  that  the  Doctor  would  get 
up  a  subscription  trust  fund  of  not  less  than  $10,000,  to  which 
I  would  subscribe  myself,  and  provided  that  the  fund  should 
be  called  the  Hoadley  Education  Fund  in  honor  of  this  won 
derfully  unselfish  offer  to  aid  the  people  of  Charleston  by  a 
Yankee  Abolitionist  who  had  not  a  single  acquaintance  there — 
all  of  which  was  agreed  to  by  Mr.  Hoadley.  Several  possible 
subscribers,  however,  objected  to  having  a  Yankee  name  at 
tached  to  the  enterprise.  Of  course,  this  ridiculous  illiberality 
greatly  shocked  me,  and  I  promptly  declined  to  donate  Mr. 
Hoadley's  money  or  my  own  on  any  other  terms  than  those 
I  had  named.  Thereupon,  Dr.  Porter,  who  was  an  able  ne 
gotiator,  wrote  directly  to  Mr.  Hoadley  asking  him  to  \vaive 
my  proposition  in  obedience  to  the  prejudices  of  the  times,  and 
the  latter — generous  and  modest  gentleman  that  he  was ! — 
wrote  me  at  once  asking  me  to  relent  in  consideration  of 
the  poverty  of  the  Southern  people,  and  the  importance  of 
providing  for  their  education  even  against  their  prejudices. 

Of  course,  nothing  was  left  for  me  to  do  but  to  turn  over  the 
money. 

Mr.  Hoadley  never  recovered  from  the  misfortunes  of  the 
war,  and  his  liberality  to  every  religious  and  educational  charity 
was  so  great  that  it  came  very  near  impoverishing  him  in  the 
end. 

The  year  1867  developed  a  peculiar  phase  of  military  rule 
in  the  State  of  Alabama,  not  unlike  that  which  attended  the 
Cromwell  revolution  in  England ;  namely,  an  attempt  to  sub 
ject  the  Church  to  political  control  by  regulating  its  prayers. 


254  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

The  military  commander  of  the  Alabama  district  issued  an 
order  requiring  the  clergy  of  the  Episcopal  Church  to  use  the 
Prayer  for  Rulers,  which  reads,  "  We  most  heartily  beseech 
Thee  with  Thy  favor  to  behold  and  bless  Thy  servant  the 
President  of  the  United  States  and  all  others  in  authority,  grant 
them  in  health  and  prosperity  long  to  live,  and,  finally,  after 
this  life  to  attain  everlasting  joy  and  felicity."  Bishop  Wilmer, 
not  wishing  to  see  the  members  of  his  Diocese  guilty  of  so  base 
and  hypocritical  an  action  as  praying  for  the  long  life  and 
happiness  and  the  future  glorification  of  the  flagrant  despotism 
by  which  they  were  oppressed,  issued  a  Pastoral  Letter  to  his 
clergy  in  which  he  declared  the  prayer  for  all  those  in  authority 
was  out  of  place  and  utterly  incongruous,  and  that,  while  they 
should  be  ready  to  pray  for  rulers  generally,  the  particular  form 
of  the  Prayer  Book  invocation  rendered  it  impossible  for  them 
to  use  it,  under  the  circumstances  in  which  they  were  placed, 
without  the  baldest  hypocrisy. 

The  Bishop,  on  being  called  to  account  for  this  letter  by 
the  military  commander,  told  him  frankly  that  he  could  not 
pray  for  the  prosperity  of  a  Government  which  deprived  him 
of  his  rights  as  an  American  freeman,  and  could  not  invoke 
the  blessings  of  long  life  in  this  world  and  felicity  in  the  next 
upon  the  tyrannical  and  barbarous  black  rulers  who  had  been 
imposed  upon  his  State  by  a  partisan  and  sectional  Congress. 

The  officer  then  said :  "  When  do  you  think  you  will  use 
the  Prayer  Book  prayer  for  the  President  and  all  others  in 
authority  ?  " 

The  Bishop  promptly  answered :  "  When  you  all  get  away 
from  here.  This  prayer  was  for  a  government  of  the  people's 
choice  and  affection.  .  .  .  The  fact  is  that  the  govern 
ment  as  at  present  administered  is  one  for  which  I  desire  the 
least  length  of  life  and  the  least  prosperity  that  is  consistent 
with  the  providential  will  of  God. 

"  Suppose,"  the  Bishop  continued,  "  our  positions  reversed. 
Suppose  that  we  had  conquered  you,  and  that,  amid  all  your 
destitution,  sadness,  and  humiliation,  an  officer  had  commanded 
you  to  fall  down  upon  your  knees  and  ask  God  to  grant  long 


AFTER   THE    WAR  255 

life,  health,  and  prosperity  to  our  Government?  Would  you 
doit?" 

The  officer  quickly  replied  in  language  which,  if  rather  pro 
fane,  was  honest  and  instinct  with  the  spirit  of  an  American 
freeman,  "  I'd  be  damned  to  hell  if  I  would !  " 

The  Bishop  retorted :  "  I  am  not  disposed  to  use  your  phrase 
ology.  But  if  I  do  this  thing  you  order  me  to  do — addressing 
the  Almighty  with  my  lips  when  my  heart  is  not  in  my  prayer — 
I  run  great  danger  of  meeting  the  doom  you  have  hypothetically 
invoked  upon  your  own  head." 

This  terminated  the  interview. 

In  a  few  days  an  order  was  issued  shutting  up  the  churches, 
and  suspending  Bishop  Wilmer  from  his  functions. 

One  of  the  Bishop's  clergymen,  inspired  either  by  fear  or 
an  honest  desire  to  compromise,  procured  a  license  to  open  his 
church  by  promising  to  use  the  prayer  under  discussion.  He 
attempted  to  placate  the  Bishop  by  explaining  to  him  that  he 
used  the  prayer  under  the  clearest  and  firmest  protest  he  could 
make  openly,  and  asked  him  for  his  official  opinion  of  this 
course.  The  Bishop  said :  "  My  dear  brother,  I  am  quite  un 
able  to  inform  you  what  God  will  think  of  a  prayer  made  under 
protest,  or  how  far  the  great  Provider  of  good  will  be  influenced 
by  a  petition  which  your  open  protest  shows  you  did  not  wish 
granted." 

During  this  troubled  period  I  was  privileged  to  be  able  to 
secure  the  release  of  the  Winyah  Indigo  Society  (Georgetown) 
by  intercession  with  Gen.  Sickles — one  of  many  considerate 
acts  on  the  part  of  this  chivalrous  officer — and  to  help  to  re 
establish  public  worship  in  various  parts  of  the  South  by 
making  or  obtaining  loans  which  made  it  possible  to  repair 
and  reopen  a  number  of  church  buildings. 

A  great  number  of  prominent  Southerners  visited  New  York 
after  the  close  of  the  War.  Among  these  were  some  old 
Unionists  who  had  fallen  victims  to  the  craze  of  State  Sov 
ereignty,  while  disliking  Secession,  and  who  were  not  sorry  to 
hail  the  "  Lost  Cause  "  as  lost — my  old  and  valued  South 
Carolina  friend,  William  Gilmore  Simms,  for  instance,  one  of 


256  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  most  distinguished  literary  men  of  the  South.  I  had  the 
pleasure  of  entertaining  Mr.  Simms  at  a  dinner  at  which  the 
Mayor  of  New  York,  the  president  of  the  New  York  Chamber 
of  Commerce,  members  of  Congress,  and  prominent  editors 
were  present.  In  his  speech  at  the  table,  he  gave  quotations 
in  a  playful  manner  from  the  abusive  editorials  in  the  Charles 
ton,  Mobile,  and  New  Orleans  journals,  upon  his  host's  course 
in  co-operating  so  actively  with  the  war  element  at  the  North, 
and  said  that  the  Northern  papers,  especially  the  Tribune, 
afforded  the  Secession  element  great  satisfaction  by  copying 
the  Southern  opinions  of  his  conduct  and  supplementing  them 
by  a  plentiful  supply  of  abuse  of  their  own,  full  of  accusations 
of  disloyalty  to  the  Union  because  of  his  imprudent  political 
speeches,  notably  one  before  the  Chamber  of  Commerce  in 
opposition  to  an  unwise  and  useless  proposal  to  tax  cotton, 
rice,  and  tobacco. 

''  Taking  note,"  said  Mr.  Simms,  "  of  this  honest  but  indis 
creet  political  course  of  my  valued  friend,  by  which  he  lost 
the  confidence  of  the  radical  element  in  both  sections  of  the 
country,  I  was  desirous  of  learning  how  he  stood  with  the 
authorities  in  Washington,  and  how  he  managed  to  avoid 
a  trip  to  Fort  Lafayette,  where  so  many  outspoken  Union  men 
had  been  sent  for  their  indiscretion.  I  found,  on  conversing 
with  leading  Republicans  at  the  Capital,  many  of  them  officials, 
that  our  host  was  under  the  surveillance  of  the  Government 
police  in  New  York  during  the  whole  time ;  but  that  while 
outspoken,  even  against  the  Government,  in  his  public  speeches, 
he  always  sustained  the  War,  and  while  the  Government  re 
ceived  many  complaints  against  his  loyalty,  they  never  could 
find  anything  tangible  against  him.  But  my  visit  to  his  library 
to-day  opened  my  eyes  to  his  means  of  security  against  arrest. 
On  opening  a  handsomely  bound  volume  containing  the  vol 
uminous  diplomatic  correspondence  of  Secretary  William  H. 
Seward,  of  the  State  Department,  with  our  representatives 
abroad  and  with  foreign  governments,  up  to  and  including 
1863,  I  found  that  it  was  a  presentation  copy,  and  on  the  title 
page  was  written,  '  To  Colonel  Richard  Lathers,  from  his 


AFTER   THE    WAR  257 

friend  William  H.  Seward.'  "  This/'  said  Mr.  Simms,  "  was 
the  milk  in  the  cocoanut.  On  looking  further  among  his 
pamphlets  of  the  War,  I  found  many  official  reports  by  Secre 
tary  of  the  Treasury  Chase,  and  Secretary  of  War  Stanton, 
inscribed  in  the  same  manner." 

A  few  days  after  this  dinner  Mr.  Simms  called  at  my  office 
to  express  the  pleasure  he  had  experienced  in  meeting  so  many 
distinguished  gentlemen  (several  of  them  ardent  Republicans), 
and  in  being  greeted  so  cordially  by  them.  I  then  inquired  of 
him,  whether  he  had  learned  the  name  of  the  officer  who  had 
the  custody  of  my  loyalty.  He  answered  at  once,  a  detective 
named  Sampson.  I  astonished  him  greatly  when  I  informed 
him  that  Sampson  was  employed  during  the  entire  war  by 
the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company,  of  which  I  was  the 
president. 

While  we  are  speaking  of  dinners,  allow  me  to  narrate, 
somewhat  out  of  its  proper  chronological  order,  a  very  laugha 
ble  incident.  Moses  Grinnel,  a  well-known  merchant  who  was 
an  earnest  friend  and  supporter,  as  a  Republican,  of  General 
Grant,  as  he  had  been  earlier,  as  a  Whig,  an  earnest  friend 
and  supporter  of  Daniel  Webster,  gave  a  dinner  to  the  General 
to  which  he  invited  some  ten  leading  Republicans.  Mr.  Grin 
nel,  who  was  celebrated  for  his  liberal  dinners,  ordered  Del- 
monico  to  get  up  for  him,  regardless  of  expense,  a  banquet  to 
be  served  at  his  own  residence.  The  pilots  of  the  port,  with 
whom  Mr.  Grinnel  (as  the  representative  of  the  Chamber  of 
Commerce  on  the  pilotage  commission)  was  a  favorite,  saw 
that  he  was  supplied  not  only  with  the  rarest  kinds  of  fish,  but 
with  a  large,  fat  turtle  from  Southern  waters  for  the  concoction 
of  a  soup  which  should  be  worthy  of  the  occasion. 

On  the  very  same  day,  my  intimate  friend,  Mr.  John  Gardner, 
a  generous  and  genial  banker  of  the  city,  invited,  as  was  his 
frequent  custom,  a  few  friends  to  dine  with  him  informally; 
but  as  Mrs.  Gardner  was  out  of  town,  he  ordered  at  Del- 
monico's  a  plain  dinner  for  six  or  eight  persons,  to  be  sent  to 
his  house  at  the  hour  appointed  for  the  Grinnel  dinner. 
Through  some  mistake,  the  plain  dinner  ordered  by  Mr. 


258  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

Gardner  was  sent  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Grinnel,  and  the 
sumptuous  dinner  ordered  by  Mr.  Grinnel  was  sent  to  the 
house  of  Mr.  Gardner.  Mr.  Gardner  and  his  guests  were 
greatly  surprised  by  the  variety  and  display  of  the  meal — by 
the  enormous  supply  of  turtle  soup,  the  magnificent  specimens 
of  fish,  and  above  all,  by  the  confections,  which  included  an 
immense  sugar  coach  and  six  horses  mounted  on  ornamental 
wood  representing  a  roadway  and  surmounted  by  a  very  good 
likeness  of  General  Grant  enjoying  his  favorite  pastime  of 
driving  a  mettlesome  team.  Mr.  Gardner  explained  that,  as 
he  was  a  liberal  patron  of  Delmonico,  he  presumed  that  the 
restaurateur  had  taken  this  way  of  complimenting  him,  and  he 
only  regretted  that  he  had  not  been  notified  so  that  he  could 
have  invited  a  larger  number  of  friends. 

On  the  other  hand,  at  Mr.  Grinnel's,  according  to  Moses 
Taylor,  one  of  the  guests,  the  soup  was  served  in  a  modest 
tureen,  and  was  followed  by  a  moderate-sized  sea  bass,  the 
serving  of  both  of  which  taxed  the  host's  skill  to  the  utmost, 
since  there  was  barely  enough  to  go  around.  This  must  have 
been  exceedingly  trying  to  a  man  who  prided  himself — and 
justly — on  the  magnificence  of  his  dinners  and  on  his  genial 
manner  of  dispensing  them,  for  it  was  not  then  the  fashion  to 
leave  all  the  details  of  service  to  the  butler.  But  this  annoyance 
was  as  nothing  to  the  disappointment  and  disgust  he  felt  when, 
instead  of  the  magnificent  complimentary  group  which  had 
been  fabricated  under  his  own  supervision,  and  with  which  he 
calculated  to  electrify  the  company  and  win  the  gratitude  of 
the  General,  a  small  ice  cream  in  the  form  of  a  turtle  was 
brought  on. 

In  1866,  when  the  oil-speculating  fever  was  at  its  height, 
I  was  offered  a  directorship  in  the  Humboldt  Mining  and 
Refining  Company  of  Pennsylvania,  of  which  Mr.  Suchard, 
the  senior  partner  of  one  of  New  York's  largest  and  most  con 
servative  banking  houses,  was  the  president,  and  such  dis 
tinguished  men  as  Wm.  M.  Evarts,  James  B.  Johnston,  Mr. 
Travers,  and  Mr.  Forbes  of  Boston  were  directors.  Impressed 
and  flattered  by  these  names,  I  readily  accepted,  and  attended 


AFTER    THE    WAR  259 

the  organization  meeting  at  the  Continental  Hotel  in  Phila 
delphia,  where  we  were  entertained  sumptuously  by  the  specula 
tive  promoters  of  the  enterprise.  The  story  of  the  company's 
management  is  of  no  present  interest.  And  yet  I  cannot  resist 
the  impulse  to  caution  verdant  young  men  against  financial 
dinner  parties.  After  the  cloth  was  removed,  our  hosts  in 
formed  us  that  a  certain  block  of  the  company's  stock  was  in 
the  hands  of  adverse  interests,  and  that  it  would  be  greatly 
to  the  advantage  of  the  board  to  control  this  before  the  large 
earned  dividend  was  declared.  Mr.  Evarts,  with  his  usual  cau 
tion,  "  regretted  "  that  he  had  not  the  spare  means  to  increase 
his  ownership  of  the  stock,  and  I  followed  his  lead.  Others 
subscribed.  The  next  day  I  was  surprised  to  receive  a  note 
from  the  president  enclosing  $6,000  of  the  stock,  with  the  com 
plimentary  remark  that  he  did  not  like  to  have  me  lose  so 
valuable  an  investment.  It  is  the  old  story.  I  weakly  yielded 
to  my  desire  to  be  agreeable  to  my  banking  friend  and  not  to 
be  behind  my  co-directors,  and  sent  a  check  for  the  stock. 
And  the  last  I  heard  of  it  was  a  citation  to  meet  the  directors 
to  sign  a  mortgage  of  the  large  property  which  shortly  before 
had  been  pronounced  ready  to  declare  a  generous  dividend. 
Such  is  life  in  speculative  times. 

Usually  young  men  lose  their  money  in  bad  company,  but 
here  was  clearly  a  case  in  which  most  of  the  directors  were 
made  the  victims  of  the  stockholders  in  a  worthless  corporation. 

In  the  above  instance  I  came  to  grief  by  being  overcredu- 
lous,  but  I  have  missed  several  golden  opportunities  in  my  life 
time  by  being  overcautious-. 

Thus,  one  evening,  several  years  after  my  disenchanting  ex 
perience  with  the  Humboldt  Company,  I  was  seated  with  Mr. 
Wilson  G.  Hunt  in  his  parlor  at  the  Clarendon  Hotel,  when 
Cyrus  W.  Field  came  in.  I  was  about  to  retire,  after  greeting 
Mr.  Field,  when  Mr.  Hunt  said,  "  Don't  leave !  Our  friend 
has  no  doubt  a  business  proposition  to  suggest,  for  he  is  the 
great  source  of  fertility  in  the  way  of  original  enterprises." 
Mr.  Field  at  once  opened  up  his  proposition,  for  he  was  not 
given  to  long  prefaces  where  business  was  concerned.  He 


260  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

explained  that  he  had  secured  an  option  of  a  few  months,  which 
would  enable  him  to  get  possession  of  the  City  Elevated  Rail 
road  and  its  charter,  on  the  most  favorable  terms.  That  in 
order  to  take  advantage  of  this  option  he  should  go  to  London 
for  the  capital  necessary  to  build  and  equip  the  road,  and  that 
he  should  issue  stock  at  a  low  figure,  and  bonds  at  75.  "I  will 
reserve  for  you  two  friends,"  he  said,  "  as  many  bonds  as  you 
desire  at  seventy-five  cents  on  the  dollar,  and  will  give  you  a 
hundred-dollar  share  of  stock  for  every  thousand-dollar  bond 
you  subscribe  for."  He  then  dilated  on  the  best  means  of  re 
constructing  both  the  road  and  the  rollingstock,  which  were  in 
so  dilapidated  a  condition  as  very  properly  to  be  considered 
dangerous. 

Mr.  Hunt  and  I,  after  mature  consideration,  declined  the 
offer  on  the  ground  that  a  ten-cent  fare  for  this  novel  mode  of 
transit  would  render  the  project  unprofitable,  even  at  the  low 
rate  of  the  investment.  And  besides,  we  feared  that  the  ele 
vated  road  might  be  laid  aside  in  a  few  years  for  some  new 
invention.  All  this  reasoning  proved  to  be  more  conservative 
than  sound,  for  time  developed  that  the  structure  was  not  so 
flimsy  as  we  supposed,  and  the  reduction  of  the  fare  to  five 
cents  has  demonstrated  the  great  value  of  the  property  as  an 
investment,  and  its  transcendent  utility  to  the  public.  The 
bonds  which  we  could  have  had  for  seventy-five,  afterwards 
reached  far  above  one  hundred,  and  the  stock  which  these 
bonds  carried  with  them  went  still  higher  than  the  bonds.  Mr. 
Field,  thanks  to  his  faculty  for  presenting  any  project  in  a 
favorable  light,  and  to  the  confidence  of  capitalists  in  his  ca 
pacity,  had  no  difficulty  in  negotiating  for  all  his  capital  in 
London. 


CHAPTER     IX 

RECONCILATION 

ON  returning  to  Charleston  in  the  spring  of  1867,  I  received 
a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  Georgetown,  my  former  home,  for 
consultation  with  my  old  friends  as  to  the  best  method  of 
coping  with  the  new  problems  which  the  war  had  just  forced 
upon  them.  I  found  my  friends  greatly  impoverished,  and 
seriously  disturbed  by  the  novel  situation  in  which  the  white 
and  black  races  found  themselves  under  the  emancipation.  I 
was  gratified  to  learn  that  a  kindly  and  sympathetic  feeling 
existed  between  the  whites  and  the  blacks,  and  that  both  de 
sired  to  make  the  best  of  things  as  they  found  them,  and  to 
aid  each  other  in  building  up  their  fallen  fortunes.  Indeed, 
this  mutual  kindness  extended  to  a  division  of  the  limited 
supply  of  daily  food  and  clothing  on  hand,  and  to  partnership 
in  labor  for  the  necessities  of  life. 

As  an  old  friend  in  whom  they  had  confidence,  I  was  in 
vited  by  each  race  to  speak  on  the  issues  of  the  day.  I  sug 
gested  a  joint  meeting  in  a  public  square,  as  I  had  nothing  to 
say  to  one  race  which  I  would  withhold  from  the  other,  and 
my  proposition  was  accepted. 

The  following  article  from  the  Georgetown  Times  of  April 
24th  refers  to  this  meeting  (the  first  held  in  the  low  country 
in  which  white  and  colored  men  met  together  to  consider  their 
common  rights  as  equals  under  the  law),  and  gives  the  sub 
stance  of  my  remarks : 

"MASS    MEETING 

(f  SPEECH    OF    COLONEL    LATHERS    OF    NEW    YORK 

"  The  speech  of  Col.  Lathers  of  New  York  to  a  large  and 
attentive  audience,  was  one  of  the  most  able,  temperate,  truth- 

261 


262  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD   LATHERS 

ful,  and  conciliatory,  that  it  has  been  the  good  fortune  of  our 
community  to  listen  to  for  many  years.  It  is  indeed  refresh 
ing  and  glorious,  to  find  a  speaker  who  embraces  the  good  of 
the  whole  country  within  the  scope  of  his  remarks,  not  unmind 
ful  of  the  dire  effects  of  partial  and  oppressive  legislation ;  for, 
while  clearly  demonstrating  the  existence  of  oppression,  he 
has  beautifully  portrayed  the  blessings  of  liberty  as  intended  to 
be  diffused  by  the  original  framers  of  the  Government.  But 
his  remarks  on  the  existing  relations  of  the  two  races,  gave 
the  address  that  practical  bearing  so  important  to  our  district. 
It  has  been  very  evident  to  our  people  that  desperate  efforts 
are  being  made  by  emissaries  who,  instigated  by  no  other  de 
sire  than  the  gratification  of  selfish  ends,  strive  to  sow  the 
seeds  of  discord  between  the  two  races,  ignoring  the  bless 
ings  of  education,  with  which  the  experience  of  ages  has  en 
dowed  a  superior  race.  On  the  mutual  obligations  and  future 
welfare  of  races  living  on  the  same  planet  and  subjected  to 
the  same  natural  laws,  Col.  Lathers  dwelt  fully  and  freely. 
During  the  course  of  his  remarks,  questions  were  submitted 
by  intelligent  colored  citizens,  which  he  kindly  and  conclu 
sively  answered  to  their  satisfaction.  He  was  occasionally 
interrupted  by  demonstrations  of  approbation.  Below,  we  give 
a  synopsis  of  his  speech : 

" '  Mr.  President: — It  gives  me  peculiar  pleasure  to  address 
my  old  friends  of  Georgetown  district,  where  the  pleasant  years 
of  my  childhood  and  the  active  years  of  my  early  manhood 
were  passed.  I  see,  among  you,  the  faces  of  many,  colored  as 
well  as  white,  with  whom  I  played  marbles,  sailed  boats,  ran 
foot-races,  and  contended  in  other  boyish  sports,  many  years 
ago,  on  a  basis  of  equality  fostered  by  the  past  institutions 
of  this  State,  which  conduced  to  a  kindly  feeling  between  the 
two  races;  a  feeling  which  I  hope  the  new  political  relations 
will  not  be  permitted  to  impair.  I  am  now  a  citizen  of  another 
section  of  our  glorious  Union.  My  family  and  my  estate  have 
long  been  removed  from  the  scenes  of  your  political  activities ; 
and  yet  I  have  too  much  interest  in  the  fortunes  of  my  old 
associates  in  Georgetown,  to  refuse  to  respond  to  the  request 


RECONCILIATION  263 

of  the  leading  men  of  both  races  to  give  my  views  frankly 
on  the  grave  issues  of  the  hour. 

"  '  It  is  due  to  myself  to  say  that  I  have  no  sympathy  with 
The  Military  Bill,  under  which  the  States  of  the  South  are 
unconstitutionally  deprived  of  their  rights.  Whatever  may 
have  been  the  faults  of  the  unwise  men,  who  organized  the 
Secession  movement,  and  who  brought  disaster  and  poverty 
on  their  section  through  a  gallant  but  most  destructive  war, 
the  States,  certainly,  are  incapable  of  committing  treason ;  and 
as  they  are  without  power  to  dissolve  the  sacred  bonds  which 
bind  them  to  our  Union,  so  too,  neither  Congress,  nor  any 
other  body  has  the  right  to  treat  them  as  conquered  prov 
inces. 

"  '  The  Constitution  assigns  the  duty  of  enforcing  law  and 
punishing  the  infraction  of  law,  to  the  Executive  department 
of  the  government  which  has  no  power  to  deal  with  States, 
but  which  is  armed  with  full  power  to  protect  national  in 
terests,  including  the  Union  itself,  against  the  violence  and 
disloyalty  of  any  or  all  of  the  individuals  of  the  States.  In 
other  words  the  States  of  this  Union  are  the  great  pillars  of 
our  nationality.  The  removal  of  any  of  them  destroys  the 
edifice,  and  the  Constitution  wisely  makes  no  provision  by  which 
the  perfect  equality  of  each  and  every  State  in  the  Union  can 
be  modified  or  withdrawn.  But,  while  I  do  not  sympathize 
with  this  bill,  Mr.  President,  I  am  desirous  that  the  South 
should  organize  under  it  for  the  practical  advantage  of  a  speedy 
restoration  of  Southern  rights.  The  bill  is,  fortunately,  only 
temporary  in  its  application,  and  will  cease  to  be  opera 
tive  when  the  States  shall  have  been  reconstructed.  I  am 
also  constrained  to  admit  that  many  of  the  active  supporters 
of  the  bill  at  the  North  really  regard  it  as  a  necessity,  and 
as  constitutional;  and,  I  believe,  that  they  will  be  rejoiced 
to  see  the  Southern  States  restored  again  to  a  perfect  equality 
of  rights.  In  other  words,  they  regard  the  bill  as  a  kind  of 
scaffolding  for  restoring  the  shattered  edifice  of  our  Union. 
The  consideration  of  past  issues  and  abstract  doctrines  is  now 
unprofitable.  You  must  confront  with  courage  the  great  facts 


264  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

of  emancipation  and  suffrage.  And  I  would  here  remark 
to  my  friends  of  my  own  color,  that  the  work  before  them  de 
mands  all  their  energy.  No  man  has  any  right  to  neglect  or 
refuse  to  perform  his  whole  duty  to  his  State,  his  district  and 
his  family,  while  so  radical  a  tranformation  is  going  on. 
Every  good  citizen  is  bound  to  exert  himself  to  the  utmost  for 
the  protection  of  the  community  against  the  possible  evils  of 
a  change  which  will  be  forced  to  a  conclusion,  whether  he 
co-operates  or  not.  And  I  would  say  to  my  colored  friends, 
that  they,  too,  have  a  great  responsibility  resting  upon  them.  It 
is  their  duty  to  assist  in  restoring  their  State  to  peace  and 
prosperity,  and  to  elevate  their  race  to  an  industrial  and  intel 
lectual  equality  with  the  great  body  of  freemen  who  have 
hitherto  directed  the  destinies  of  our  country. 

"  '  I  am  sanguine  that  you  will  both  meet  the  exigency  with 
intelligence  and  patriotism,  because,  I  am  fully  satisfied  in 
my  own  mind,  after  a  careful  investigation  of  the  sentiments 
now  existing  between  white  men  and  colored  men,  that  the  most 
perfect  accord  prevails.  I  find  everywhere,  and  particularly 
in  Georgetown,  where  I  think  I  have  the  confidence  (at  least, 
to  some  extent)  of  both  parties,  that  the  white  men  are  ready 
to  grant  to  the  fullest  extent,  the  political  rights  of  the  colored 
men,  and  that  the  colored  men  have  a  respect  for  and  confi 
dence  in  their  white  friends  which  have  been  engendered  by 
many  years  of  mutual  kindness. 

"  '  Indeed,  I  am  satisfied  that  there  will  be  the  fullest  co 
operation  for  the  interests  of  both  races  at  the  coming  elec 
tions  provided  no  interference  shall  be  permitted  by  the  dema 
gogues  who  are  endeavoring  to  sow  distrust  in  the  minds  of 
the  less  intelligent  of  the  colored  men  of  the  district.  It  be 
hooves  you,  then,  my  intelligent  colored  friends,  to  see  that 
while  you  guard  in  the  fullest  manner  the  rights  of  your  race 
against  the  least  incursion  from  any  quarter,  that  you  also 
guard  them  against  the  machinations  of  the  emissaries  from 
abroad,  who  would  produce  discord  between  you  and  your 
old  friends  of  the  white  race,  among  whom  your  lot  has  been 
cast,  and  who  in  common  with  you,  must  rise  or  fall  with  the 


RECONCILIATION  265 

success  or  failure  of  your  common  country.  South  Carolina 
belongs  to  you  jointly,  and  will  be  the  joint  heritage  of  your 
children.  See  to  it,  therefore,  that  by  harmony  you  conserve 
your  joint  interests. 

'  Now  if,  in  my  remarks,  I  am  not  sufficiently  clear  on  every 
point  and  you  desire  fuller  information,  I  shall  be  glad  if  you 
will  propound  any  question  to  me ;  and  I  will  reply  to  the  best 
of  my  ability.  And  first  I  would  remark  that  your  liberty 
and  political  equality  are  as  secure  as  my  own.  The  same 
great  charter  which  guarantees  the  rights  of  the  white  man,  also 
protects  yours;  nor  can  any  restrict  your  rights  more  easily 
than  those  of  the  white  man.  Even  if  the  delegates  to  your 
Convention  should  prove  recreant  to  their  duty,  and  should  at 
tempt  to  defraud  you  of  perfect  equality,  Congress,  having 
retained  the  supervision  of  this  matter,  would  not  confirm  any 
such  proceeding;  so  that  you  need  give  no  heed  to  charges  of 
that  kind  against  your  white  fellow  citizens.  The  great  ques 
tion  for  you  is  how  to  establish  your  liberty  and  equality  on 
a  firm  basis,  and  how  to  make  these  great  boons  valuable  to 
you  and  your  posterity.  Liberty  is  a  great  blessing  or  a  great 
curse,  according  as  it  is  used.  If  you,  who  are  intelligent, 
succeed  in  directing  your  race  to  a  moral  and  intelligent  dis 
charge  of  the  high  duties  of  American  freemen,  then,  indeed, 
will  your  race  be  blessed,  and  the  country  will  be  elevated  by 
the  change  which  has  been  accomplished.  But  if  you  are 
unable  to  do  this,  and  ignorance,  pauperism  and  crime  pre 
vail,  sad,  indeed,  will  be  your  fate. 

'  You  must  regard  with  caution  all  white  men  who  pro 
pose  hostility  to  their  own  race,  under  any  pretext  whatso 
ever.  You  cannot  safely  trust  any  man  who  is  false  to  his  own 
race,  whether  that  race  be  white  or  black.  Your  own  native 
good  sense  will  always  enable  you  to  judge  of  any  real  griev 
ance  of  your  race  or  any  act  of  hostility  toward  it.  You  should 
immediately  demand  a  remedy  in  a  kind,  firm  and  candid  man 
ner,  and,  as  you  have  political  rights,  you  ought  to  refuse  to 
vote  for  any  candidate  unless  you  are  perfectly  satisfied  of  his 
ability  to  perform  the  duties  of  his  office,  to  the  advantage  of 


266  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  State,  and  of  his  willingness  to  protect  your  civil  rights  in 
every  particular.  It  is  true,  that  under  our  present  laws,  all 
men  are  entitled  to  vote,  but  it  is  not  proper  that  all  men  should 
be  entitled  to  hold  office.  Unless  men  are  qualified  for  ofnce- 
holding  by  education,  experience  and  integrity,  it  is  an  out 
rage  to  elevate  them  to  places  of  responsibility,  since  their 
ignorance,  incapacity  and  dishonesty  may  inflict  countless  evils 
on  the  community.  After  the  adoption  of  your  contemplated 
constitution  (which  I  hope  will  be  made  by  your  most  valued 
old  citizens,  whose  knowledge  of  your  organic  law  will  be  ab 
solutely  necessary)  after  your  adoption,  I  say,  of  this  instru 
ment,  and  your  admission  to  your  rights  as  a  State,  you  will 
be  called  on  to  discuss  practical  questions  for  your  general  wel 
fare  ;  honest  differences  of  opinion  will  undoubtedly  divide  you 
into  two  or  more  parties,  but  I  hope  no  disputes  will  ever  arise 
which  shall  separate  you  from  the  white  race. 

"  '  Fortunately  no  difference  of  opinion  exists  as  yet.  Both 
white  and  colored  men  desire  to  get  back  into  the  Union  as 
speedily  as  possible,  and  neither  of  the  great  political  parties 
presents  practical  issues  at  this  time.  Neither  of  these  parties 
can  claim  emancipation  as  a  measure,  since  both  parties  at  the 
North  commenced  the  War  to  put  down  Secession  and  not  to 
free  slaves.  Indeed,  Congress  by  a  nearly  unanimous  vote,  an 
nounced  a  policy  antagonistic  to  emancipation  at  the  beginning 
of  the  War,  and  even  Mr.  Lincoln's  original  proclamation  of 
emancipation  and  conditional  on  the  Secession  States  refusing 
to  lay  down  their  arms.  Political  organizations  of  a  secret 
nature  have  been  formed,  it  seems,  which  are  designed,  I 
fear,  to  create  party  antagonisms  destructive  of  the  cordial 
understanding  now  existing  between  the  races.  Many  good 
men,  no  doubt,  have  already  connected  themselves  with  these 
dangerous  organizations,  lured  by  promises  of  sympathy  from 
distant  Northern  States.  But  let  me  advise  you,  my  friends, 
to  find  out  whether  your  colored  brethren  in  those  Northern 
States  enjoy  the  advantages  which  are  so  lavishly  promised  to 
you,  and  to  ponder  whether  it  is  wise  for  you  to  abandon  the 
men  by  whom  your  race  has  been  cherished  from  barbarism  up 


RECONCILIATION  267 

to  a  degree  of  civilization  which  now  fits  you  to  become  Amer 
ican  freemen.  The  kindly  sympathy  existing  between  your 
race  and  white  Southern  men  is  not,  and  cannot  be,  compre 
hended  by  Northern  disorganizers. 

"  '  But  this  attempt  to  produce  discord  apart,  you  must  con 
sider  that  you  are  now  emancipated,  and  that  your  right  to 
discuss  all  political  questions  is  beyond  debate.  Why  should 
you  lower  the  dignity  of  your  position  by  skulking  into  holes 
and  corners,  and  binding  yourselves  to  secrecy  by  oaths,  after 
the  manner  of  slaves  and  assassins?  You  are  free  citizens  of 
this  glorious  Union ;  the  Union  flag  protects  your  meeting  here 
to-day,  and  will  protect  your  deliberations  here  in  broad  day 
light  to-morrow ;  and  neither  you  nor  your  white  fellow-citizens 
have  any  right  to  plan  secret  political  movements  which  can 
not  be  freely  discussed  in  open  day  before  all  the  citizens 
interested. 

"  '  Such  organizations  are  potent  to  overthrow  the  liberties  of 
a  people,  and  should  be  scorned  as  the  refuge  of  political  trick 
sters,  whose  designs  will  not  bear  investigation.  Your  own 
race  in  St.  Domingo,  after  establishing  their  liberty  on  that 
beautiful  island,  were  seduced  by  Jacobin  emissaries  from 
France  to  distrust  their  white  fellow-citizens  and  to  wage  a 
war  of  extermination  against  them.  After  that,  similar  dis 
cord  arose  between  the  mulattoes  and  the  black  men,  and  the 
result  is  that  that  productive  country  and  its  colored  inhabi 
tants  are  reduced  to  a  degree  of  helpless  poverty  and  anarchy 
which  it  chills  the  blood  to  contemplate. 

"  '  Any  discord  between  the  landowners  and  the  working 
population  of  a  country,  or  any  interference  by  government 
with  the  vested  rights  of  landowners,  has  always  and  every 
where  produced  poverty  among  the  working  people. 

"  *  England  under  Cromwell  confiscated  the  lands  of  the  Irish 
gentry  and  gave  them  to  English  adventurers,  with  the  design 
of  enforcing  loyalty.  The  result  was  the  abject  poverty  of  the 
Irish  peasantry  which  has  persisted  to  this  day.  The  French 
Revolutionists  confiscated  and  divided  the  lands  of  a  large  part 
of  France ;  but  this  disregard  of  vested  rights  so  interfered  with 


268  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  interests  of  all  parties  that  almost  the  first  measure,  after 
the  return  to  power  of  Louis  the  Eighteenth,  was  the  restitu 
tion  of  the  land,  or  payment  of  the  full  value  to  the  despoiled 
owner.  There  is,  therefore,  no  danger  in  this  enlightened  day, 
of  confiscation  or  a  forced  sale  of  land.  There  is  no  more 
power  in  the  Government  to  compel  men  to  sell  lands  than 
there  is  to  compel  men  to  purchase  lands. 

'  It  is  a  laudable  ambition  in  you  to  desire  to  become  land 
owners,  and  you  have  only  to  rely  on  the  laws  of  trade  and 
your  own  provident  industry  to  accomplish  your  purpose.  If 
the  holders  of  large  tracts  of  land  cultivate  them  profitably,  the 
demand  for  labor  will  increase,  and  high  wages  will  prevail 
which  will  enable  you  to  accumulate  capital  quickly  by  work 
ing  for  others ;  while  if  the  landholder  can  cultivate  only  a 
portion  of  his  land  with  profit,  he  will  desire  to  sell  the  rest, 
and  you  can  purchase,  provided  you  have  been  provident. 

'  But  be  assured  that  the  great  essential  is  to  labor  for  the 
means  of  purchasing  land,  rather  than  to  indulge  in  unprofit 
able  discussion  as  to  the  confiscation  or  forced  sale  of  land, 
since  these  things  will  never  be  permitted  in  this  country. 

'  No  laboring  population  on  earth  has  so  completely  the 
sympathy,  respect,  and  affection  of  their  employers  as  you 
have ;  and  you  deserve  them  fully.  You  have  been  faithful  to 
your  late  masters.  You  took  no  unfair  or  unkind  advantage 
of  them  during  your  servitude,  not  even  in  the  late  war.  On 
the  contrary,  you  waited  patiently  until  the  law  elevated  you 
to  the  dignity  and  responsibility  of  freemen.  I  have  confidence 
that  you  will  continue  to  exercise  the  utmost  forbearance 
towards  your  old  masters ;  and  they,  on  their  side,  are  now 
called  on  to  extend  to  your  frailties  like  consideration. 

'  The  laws  of  trade  will  gradually  correct  many  of  the  ob 
vious  present  evils  which  are  complained  of  by  both  parties. 
If  the  employer  does  not  pay  the  colored  man  the  wages  he 
owes  him,  or  maltreats  him,  the  latter  can  enforce  his  contract 
by  law  and  decline  to  work  for  him  any  more.  If  the  colored 
man  does  not  work  faithfully,  then  the  employer  will  discharge 
him.  The  poverty  of  the  planters,  the  bad  crops,  and  the  inad- 


RECONCILIATION  269 

equate  labor  of  the  colored  man  last  year  produced  the  evils 
which  are  now  upon  you. 

"  '  A  better  prospect  exists  this  season,  but  the  want  of  capital 
is  sadly  felt  in  every  form  of  industry.  This  necessity  can  only 
be  procured  by  establishing  in  the  public  mind  complete  confi 
dence  that  the  new  relations  between  the  white  man  and  the 
colored  will  be  as  kindly  as  their  former  relations  were,  and 
that  the  freed  men  shall  everywhere  exhibit  the  same  industry 
they  exhibited  when  the  energy  of  the  South  produced  the  chief 
exports  of  the  country.  Food  cannot  always  be  furnished  by 
Government  charity,  and  I  charge  you  intelligent  colored  men 
not  only  to  protect  the  political  rights  of  the  ignorant  portion 
of  your  race,  but  to  see  to  it  that  they  do  not  fall  into  the  hands 
of  disorganizing  demagogues,  by  whom  their  minds  will  be 
poisoned  against  their  employers  and  their  habits  become  those 
which  lead  to  pauperism.  Yours  is  the  grave  duty  of  elevating 
this  portion  of  your  race  (by  training  them  to  be  honest,  indus 
trious,  and  moral)  to  the  dignity  of  useful  American  citizen 
ship  ;  and  I  trust  you  will  seek  in  this  great  work  for  the  assist 
ance  of  those  members  of  the  white  race  who  have  never  failed 
you  in  trouble  when  you  needed  friends.  I  may  never  have  the 
pleasure  of  meeting  you  again,  but  I  shall  always  look  with 
affectionate  interest  to  my  old  home,  and  shall  hope  for  the 
success  of  my  old  friends  of  both  races,  and  for  that  happiness 
which  only  industry  and  an  honest  discharge  of  mutual  duties 
can  produce.' ': 

On  board  the  steamer  which  took  me  from  Charleston  to 
Georgetown,  three  of  the  original  carpet-baggers  had  intro 
duced  themselves  to  me,  and  had  told  me  frankly  they  were 
going  to  Georgetown  for  a  contrary  purpose,  and  that  they 
intended  to  reply  to  any  speech  adverse  to  their  plan  of  organ 
izing  the  colored  men  into  secret  lodges  in  opposition  to  their 
old  masters.  To  circumvent  this  threat,  I  gave  notice  early  in 
my  talk  that  I  would  be  pleased  to  have  any  of  my  audience 
express  adverse  criticism,  so  that  I  could  reply,  as  I  had  come 
before  them  not  to  dogmatize  but  to  reason.  The  carpet-bag- 


270  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

gers,  finding  this  joint  meeting  of  white  and  colored  citizens 
in  perfect  accord  with  the  speaker,  contented  themselves  with 
requesting  Mr.  Raney,  a  very  intelligent  colored  man,  to  ask 
a  few  questions,  which  he  did.  My  answer  to  one  of  Mr. 
Raney's  questions  was  received  with  applause. 

Mr.  Raney  said :  "  The  speaker  has  invited  any  of  the  audi 
ence  to  interrogate  him  regarding  any  of  his  remarks.  I  de 
sire,  with  all  respect,  to  ask  him  how  we  colored  people  can 
protect  our  rights  if  we  are  to  abstain  from  party  politics  till 
we  are  educated  ?  "  I  replied  without  hesitation :  "  I  think  I 
have  suggested  a  mode  already;  but  perhaps  the  wise  counsel 
of  the  gentleman's  father  may  strengthen  my  position.  Many 
years  ago,  while  his  father  was  cutting  my  hair,  his  little  son 
ran  into  the  shop  with  blood  streaming  from  his  head,  crying 
and  complaining  that  a  white  boy  had  struck  him  with  a  brick 
bat.  After  washing  the  wound  and  not  finding  it  serious,  the 
father  gave  the  boy  this  sage  advice,  which  I  now  commend  to 
my  audience :  ' Don't  play,  my  son,  with  them  poor  buckra' '' 

The  colored  leaders  waited  on  me  the  next  day  and  said  that 
if  their  old  masters  would  act  on  my  advice  and  recognize  them 
in  public  matters,  these  "  Northern  men,"  as  they  called  them, 
might  go  back  and  take  care  of  the  New  England  freemen,  for 
whom  emanicpation  had  done  little  in  one  hundred  years. 

On  my  return  to  Charleston,  the  merchants  and  planters 
congratulated  me  on  the  cordial  reception  given  to  my  address. 
One  of  the  most  uncompromising  of  the  planters  thanked  me 
warmly  for  the  conservative  advice  I  had  given  the  freedmen, 
and  said :  "  I  had  so  much  confidence  in  you,  although  you 
are  so  earnest  a  Union  man,  that  I  gave  a  holiday  to  all  of  the 
negroes  on  my  plantation,  in  order  that  they  might  go  to  the 
meeting,  but  I  could  not  quite  reconcile  myself  to  attend  a 
mixed  gathering  of  the  kind."  A  number  of  the  leading  citi 
zens  of  Charleston  then  asked  me  what  I  had  to  suggest  in 
Charleston,  to  which  I  replied :  "  Re-district  Charleston  for 
public  meetings  of  the  white  and  colored  people.  In  each  dis 
trict  appoint  three  white  and  two  colored  men  of  conservative 
character  and  fairly  popular  with  both  races.  Let  the  ad- 


RECONCILIATION  271 

dresses  be  somewhat  after  the  nature  of  the  address  which  was 
made  before  the  two  races  in  Georgetown,  and  which  was 
favorably  received,  not  because  of  any  wisdom  or  eloquence  it 
possessed,  but  because  it  proposed  a  reasonable  remedy  for  the 
present  disturbed  conditions.  The  colored  people  have  not,  as 
a  class,  lost  their  respect  and  affection  for  the  whites,  the  exist 
ence  of  which — whatever  the  Abolitionists  may  think — was 
demonstrated  by  their  conduct  during  the  war,  when  they  had 
full  power  to  do  evil  and  yet  remained  loyal.  The  colored  men 
everywhere  despise  the  poor  buckra,  and  these  carpet-baggers 
have  nothing  to  offer  with  regard  to  which  you  cannot  far 
outbid  them  if  you  will.  The  colored  men  will  be  proud  if 
you  will  permit  them  to  join  you  in  the  work  of  citizenship, 
and  you  will  have  at  once  the  intelligent  conservatives  of  the 
race  with  you."  All  this  my  questioners  admitted  might  be 
good  policy,  but  the  people  of  Charleston  would  not  so  degrade 
themselves,  they  said,  as  to  associate  with  negroes  politically 
on  a  basis  of  equality.  I  said :  "  Very  well,  gentlemen,  if  you 
neglect  this  favorable  opportunity  to  govern  them,  you  will  be 
governed  by  them,  for  they  are  in  the  majority.  You  will  not 
co-operate  with  the  colored  men  while  you  can  yet  rule;  ere 
long  you  will  be  oppressed  by  these  same  colored  men  under 
the  direction  of  the  carpet-baggers  whom  you  despise  while 
they  are  organizing  underground  lodges  for  the  purpose  of 
robbing  you.  The  honorary  offices  of  your  City  Government 
will  be  filled  by  negroes,  and  the  lucrative  offices  by  the  carpet 
baggers."  This  they  regarded  as  quite  preposterous ;  and  yet 
we  all  have  lived  to  see  the  negroes  dominant  not  only  in  the 
City  Government,  but  in  the  State  Senate  and  Assembly,  and 
the  carpet-baggers  installed  in  most  of  the  positions  of  profit. 
State  as  well  as  municipal. 

I  have  elsewhere  enlarged  upon  this  evil,  which  I  have  always 
believed  could  have  been  averted  had  the  intelligent  white  men 
appealed  to  the  sympathies  and  pride  of  the  colored  men,  to 
shut  out  the  Northern  adventurers.  And,  indeed,  in  our  own 
State  and  City  of  New  York  a  similar  active  co-operation  of 
the  conservative  and  intelligent  classes  with  "  the  plain  people," 


272  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

as  Mr.  Lincoln  loved  to  call  them,  would  to-day  drive  out  of 
power  a  class  of  machine  politicians  quite  as  corrupt  as  those 
who  defrauded  and  impoverished  the  South. 

The  carpet-bag  rule  was  primarily  responsible  for  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  Ku-Klux.  The  carpet-baggers  put  in  power 
not  the  intelligent  and  conservative  colored  man,  but  the  ignor 
ant  and  brutal  negro,  to  whom  Americans  of  less  spirit  and 
pride  of  race  than  the  Southerners  would  not  tamely  submit. 
It  must  be  remembered  that  this  insult  was  seconded  by  the 
agents  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  all  from  the  North,  and  all 
more  or  less  eager  for  spoils,  although  many  of  them  were 
school  teachers  and  ministers  of  the  Gospel.  The  immediate 
occasion  of  Ku-Kluxism  was  the  unwillingness  or  inability  of 
the  local  magistrates,  known  as  trial  justices,  to  protect  prop 
erty.  These  trial  justices  were  not  only  of  the  most  ignorant 
and  corrupt  class,  but  were  located  at  great  distances  apart. 
The  freedmen,  owing  to  the  promise  of  the  carpet-baggers 
that  they  should  each  be  supplied  by  the  Government  with 
"  forty  acres  of  land  and  a  mule,"  subsisted  while  waiting  for 
this  good  fortune  by  stealing  cattle,  hogs,  and  portions  of  crops. 
They  were  able  to  commit  these  depredations  even  in  broad 
daylight  with  impunity,  because  of  the  difficulty  of  procuring 
police  aid  and  because  the  justices  were  rarely  to  be  found 
when  wanted,  and,  if  found,  favored  the  thieves.  To  protect 
their  property  the  white  planters  organized  themselves  into 
cavalry  bodies  to  drive  the  thieves  out  of  the  community. 
Furthermore,  after  the  war  crimes  became  prevalent  in  the 
South  which  had  hitherto  been  unknown  there.  Negroes  fre 
quently  assaulted  white  women,  and  committed  other  acts  of 
violence  for  which  they  were  rarely  punished  by  the  courts. 
Of  course,  when  the  courts  fail  to  redress  wrongs  and  the 
indignant  people  begin  to  take  the  law  into  their  own  hands, 
excesses  on  the  part  of  these  self-constituted  judges  are  inev 
itable.  But  there  was  one  redeeming  feature  in  this  Southern 
lynch  law.  There  is  not  a  case  on  record  of  hostility  to  the 
Union,  or  any  evidence  of  robbery  or  desire  for  personal  profit 
in  the  Ku-Klux  outrages ;  they  were  simply  crimes  of  resent 
ment  against  other  crimes. 


RECONCILIATION  273 

During  the  memorable  visit  of  President  Johnson  and  his 
Cabinet  to  New  York  (en  route  for  the  West)  some  forty  of 
us  who  approved  his  conciliatory  attitude  towards  the  South, 
gave  him  a  grand  banquet  at  Delmonico's.  His  speech  on  this 
occasion  gave  ample  proof  of  his  conservative  views  of  public 
policy,  and  was  most  favorably  received;  and  had  it  not  been 
for  his  unfortunate  exhibition  of  ill-temper  and  want  of  dignity 
in  replying  to  some  blackguard  who  chaffed  him  while  he 
was  addressing  a  street  assemblage  from  the  balcony  of  the 
banquet  hall,  his  visit  would  have  been  of  the  highest  value  to 
his  administration  and  the  the  public  welfare. 

During  this  banquet  Mr.  Wilson  G.  Hunt  said  to  me :  "  Let 
us  pay  our  respects  to  Mr.  Seward  while  he  appears  to  be  dis 
engaged."  After  the  usual  compliments  had  been  passed,  Mr. 
Seward  said :  "  Mr.  Hunt,  is  the  Atlantic  cable  well  patron 
ized  at  its  enormous  rates  ?  If  so,  we  shall  all  be  running  after 
your  stock."  Mr.  Hunt  replied :  "  No,  we  appear  to  have  lost 
the  patronage  of  your  department."  "  Yes,"  said  Mr.  Seward, 
"  the  Government  is  not  rich  enough  to  pay  such  rates  for  com 
municating  with  the  diplomatic  corps  across  the  Atlantic.  We 
must  continue  the  old  postal  mode  of  communication,  which  is 
cheaper  if  less  rapid."  This  led  to  a  discussion  between  them, 
and  at  last  to  a  mutual  understanding  as  to  the  future.  The 
terms  of  this  understanding  have  now  escaped  my  memory. 
Several  months  later,  when  the  telegraph  company  presented 
its  bill  for  services,  Mr.  Seward  denied  having  assented  to  the 
rates  charged,  and,  indeed,  was  rather  disposed  to  intimate  that 
Mr.  Hunt  was  so  desirous  of  having  the  patronage  of  the  De 
partment  as  to  have  offered  to  put  it  on  the  free  list.  Being 
called  upon  to  testify  (before  a  commission)  I  fully  corrobo 
rated  Mr.  Hunt's  statements,  as  at  that  time  I  recalled  the 
details  of  the  conversation  with  great  exactness.  On  reading 
this  testimony,  Mr.  Seward  rather  astonished  his  counsel  by 
remarking  that  he  was  now  quite  satisfied  that  Mr.  Hunt  was 
correct,  since  my  testimony  had  revived  his  memory  on  the 
subject. 

This  incident,  which  illustrates  the  integrity  of  Mr.  Seward 
and  his  willingness  to  acknowledge  an  error,  is  but  one  of  many 


274  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

proofs  which  might  be  cited  of  the  honest  and  generous  im 
pulses  of  that  great  man,  whom  politics  and  partisanship  were 
never  able  to  corrupt. 

By  reason  of  the  conservative  tendencies  displayed  by  Presi 
dent  Johnson  in  the  course  of  his  Northern  visit,  Hon. 
John  Van  Buren  and  I  were  appointed  by  Tammany  to  visit 
him,  on  his  return  to  Washington,  for  the  purpose  of  laying 
before  him  the  importance  of  bringing  the  Custom  House  offi 
cials  into  fuller  harmony  with  his  administration,  and  thus 
insuring  to  it  the  support  of  New  York  Democrats  as  well  as 
that  of  conservative  Republicans. 

The  President  listened  to  Mr.  Van  Buren's  arguments  with 
marked  attention.  But  when  he  perceived  that  we  desired 
Democratic  appointments,  he  told  us  candidly  that  while  he 
was  meditating  the  removal  of  hostile  Republicans  he  was 
not  prepared  to  appoint  Democrats.  Nevertheless,  such  was 
his  desire,  he  said,  to  have  the  support  of  the  conservative  men 
of  both  parties  that  he  intended  to  select  conservative  men,  and 
he  then  handed  us  a  list  of  the  Republican  names  he  was  con 
sidering,  and  asked  for  our  opinion  of  them.  Mr.  Van  Buren, 
after  scanning  the  list  carefully,  handed  it  back,  saying :  "  Mr. 
President,  with  all  due  respect,  these  candidates  are  as  mangy 
a  set  of  official  dogs  as  those  now  in  power,  and  will,  in  my 
judgment,  shipwreck  your  administration  in  our  State.  They 
have  neither  influence  nor  integrity.  Will  you  permit  us,  Mr. 
President,  as  friends  of  your  administration  who  will  accept 
no  office,  to  say  to  you  that  your  enemies  are  of  your  own 
party,  and  that  we  fear  that  they  will  sooner  or  later  display 
open  hostility  ?  "  President  Johnson  listened  to  our  remarks 
deferentially,  and  then  said :  "  Very  well,  gentlemen ;  I  will 
not  say  that  I  will  not  make  these  appointments  so  objection 
able  to  you,  but  I  will  say  this,  that  I  have  noticed  that  such 
political  promises  ofttimes  lead  to  political  immorality."  The 
appointments  were  never  made. 

Here  was  an  example  of  official  integrity  worthy  of  the  best 
days  of  the  Republic.  Yet  such  was  the  partisan  temper  and 
loose  morality  of  the  radical  party  in  Congress,  at  that  period, 


RECONCILIATION  275 

that  measures  were  taken  to  remove,  by  impeachment,  a  co 
ordinate  branch  of  the  Government  for  purely  party  purposes, 
because  that  branch  of  the  Government  refused  to  be  dictated 
to  by  Congress  in  the  matter  of  Cabinet  appointments  and  ap 
pointments  to  offices  generally.  In  other  words,  to  sustain  its 
own  violation  of  the  Constitution  in  passing  an  act  curtailing 
the  vested  powers  of  the  President,  it  was  proposed  that  one 
branch  of  the  Legislative  Department  should  indict  and  the 
other  branch  convict  the  President  of  the  crime  of  which  they 
were  guilty  themselves;  as  if  two  burglars  should  conspire  to 
constitute  themselves,  one  a  tribunal  to  prosecute  and  the  other 
to  adjudicate  a  charge  against  a  householder  because  he  barred 
the  door  of  his  house  to  protect  his  property  against  their  un 
lawful  purposes. 

May  6,  1868,  I  became  connected  with  the  New  York  Guar 
anty  and  Indemnity  Company,  a  unique  financial  enterprise — 
afterwards  transformed  into  a  trust  company  pure  and  simple 
— which  was  originated  by  Joel  Wolf. 

Mr.  Wolf  was  considered  one  of  the  best-dressed  men  of 
New  York.  He  chanced  one  day  to  notice  a  pair  of  boots  I 
was  wearing  and,  as  he  took  a  great  fancy  to  them,  I  intro 
duced  him  to  Pacalan,  their  maker.  When  Pacalan  had  pro 
vided  him  with  a  pair  which  fitted  him  like  a  glove,  he  took 
out  his  pocketbook  and  handed  him  a  ten-dollar  bill.  Pacalan 
told  him  the  price  was  thirty  dollars.  Mr.  Wolf  was  very 
indignant.  "  Take  them  right  off,"  he  cried.  "  I  can't  afford 
to  be  so  extravagant  as  to  wear  thirty-dollar  boots !  "  Pacalan, 
who  knew  Mr.  Wolf  to  be  rich  and  childless,  said  to  him :  "  Mr. 
Wolf,  I  will  remove  them,  since  you  cannot  afford  to  pay  for 
them,  but  your  heirs  will  not  be  so  economical."  "  Stop,"  said 
Mr.  Wolf,  "  I  think  I'll  wear  the  costly  boots  myself,  just  to 
annoy  my  heirs  by  my  extravagance." 

In  the  summer  of  1868  I  had  the  pleasure  of  entertaining 
Gen.  Joseph  E.  Johnston  at  Morley's  Hotel,  London.  He  re 
lated  on  that  occasion,  much  to  my  delight  and  that  of  my 
guests,  his  interesting  and  varied  experiences  during  and  after 
his  command  of  his  army  corps.  He  told  of  an  interview  be- 


276  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

tween  Sherman  and  Lincoln  which  illustrates  splendidly  Presi 
dent  Lincoln's  manner  of  conveying  his  personal  desire  without 
improperly  committing  himself  officially.  Gen.  Johnston  said 
that  he  had  the  anecdote  direct  from  Gen.  Sherman  himself, 
and  he  related  it  in  Sherman's  own  language,  which  I  repro 
duce  here  as  nearly  as  is  possible.  "  On  being  appointed  by 
the  Secretary  of  War,  Mr.  Stanton,  to  pursue  and  capture  the 
Confederate  President,  and  having  a  great  desire  that  the  war 
should  be  terminated  as  it  had  been  prosecuted,  not  only  with 
success,  but  without  leaving  any  questions  which  could  pos 
sibly  open  up  a  controversy  against  the  powers  of  the  Admin 
istration,  I  called  on  the  President,  and,  after  informing  him 
of  the  orders  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  said :  '  Mr.  President, 
as  your  friend,  I  take  the  liberty  to  question  the  policy  of  cap 
turing  Jefferson  Davis.  I  regard  it  in  all  respects  as  safe  and 
quite  as  dignified  on  the  part  of  the  Government  to  let  him 
remain  where  he  places  himself,  a  fugitive  rebel,  than  to  cap 
ture  him  and  subject  the  country  to  an  ill-timed  discussion  as 
to  the  constitutionality  of  a  criminal  prosecution.  He  will  be 
defended  by  the  ablest  legal  talent  the  country  affords.  And 
as  our  Constitution  is  an  organic  law  which  did  not  contemplate 
rebellion  as  a  heinous  crime, — in  fact,  our  own  independence 
was  achieved  thereby, — there  seems  to  be  much  basis  for  argu 
ment  in  his  defense.  Our  Democratic  statesmen  (even  good 
Union  men)  will  employ  this  argument  in  his  favor  before  a 
popular  jury,  and  the  chances  of  his  acquittal  will  be  strong— 
a  hazard  obvious  to  me  and  to  other  loyal  men.'  The  Presi 
dent  said  :  '  Sherman,  what  is  the  object  of  all  this  ?  '  I  replied : 
'  I  desire  to  have  your  consent,  Mr.  President,  that  when  I 
arrest  him  I  may  let  him  escape,  and  thus  protect  you  and  the 
Union-loving  citizens  of  our  country  from  the  ordeal  of  such 
a  controversy,  which  is  fraught  with  danger  in  any  event,  and 
which,  if  successful,  can  in  no  way  inure  to  your  advantage 
or  to  that  of  the  cause  which  you  have  so  effectively  vindi 
cated.'  The  President  began,  with  his  usual  good  humor,  to 
try  to  change  the  subject  and  divert  my  attention  to  other  mili 
tary  matters ;  but  as  it  became  late,  I  rose  to  depart  and  told 


RECONCILIATION  277 

the  President  flatly  that  unless  I  had  his  concurrence  to  the 
contrary,  I  should  capture  and  bring  Davis  back  to  Washington 
according  to  the  order  of  the  Secretary  of  War. 

"  The  President  then  took  my  hand  very  cordially  and  said : 
'  Sherman,  I  am  very  much  impressed  with  your  views  on  this 
subject,  but  I  cannot  specifically  instruct  you  on  so  delicate  a 
matter  of  military  duty.  I  will,  however,  relate  a  little  story 
which  reaches  the  dilemma.  In  Springfield  we  had  a  pious  old 
clergyman,  much  beloved  by  his  flock,  and  especially  by  two 
old  spinster  ladies  near  his  own  age,  who  had  worshiped  under 
his  ministerial  care  for  many  years.  One  of  them  was  taken 
very  ill,  and,  her  life  being  despaired  of  by  her  doctor,  the 
other  sister  sent  for  their  old  pastor  to  administer  the  last  rites 
and  comforts  of  his  church.  These  ladies  lived  some  four  miles 
distant  in  the  country,  and  the  zealous  old  clergyman  drove 
out  through  a  cold  rainstorm  in  an  open  buggy,  reaching  the 
sisters'  residence  perfectly  drenched  and  shivering  with  cold. 
On  his  entering  the  house  the  sister  insisted  on  getting  a  little 
whisky  to  revive  him.  But  he  declined,  as  being  an  earnest 
temperance  advocate,  saying  that  he  could  not  do  that  himself 
which  he  denied  to  others.  The  sister  then  urged  him  to  make 
this  an  exception,  as  his  life  was  too  valuable  to  his  church  for 
him  to  put  it  in  peril  by  refusing  an  antidote.  He  at  last  said, 
as  I  now  in  substance  say  to  you,  Sherman,  "  I  cannot  consent 
to  your  obviously  kind  and  perhaps  wise  suggestion,  but  I  am 
very  thirsty  and  cold  and  desire  a  glass  of  water,  and  if  there 
be  any  whisky  put  in  the  water  it  must  be  put  in  unbeknownst 
to  me."  '  " 

The  early  days  of  1869  were  inexpressibly  saddened  for  me 
by  the  death  of  my  old  friend,  Col.  Donald  McKay,  who  had 
helped  to  set  me  up  in  business  in  my  young  manhood  (as  I 
have  heretofore  related),  and  for  whom  I  had  never  ceased  to 
have  an  affection  that  was  almost  filial. 

Col.  McKay  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  one  of  two 
persons  in  Georgetown  (the  other  was  Mr.  Waterman)  to 
raise  their  voices  in  defense  of  the  Union  during  the  Secession 
furor  of  1861,  and  it  was  primarily  to  him  that  South  Carolina 


278  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

was  indebted  for  having  a  bank  "  which  passed  through  the 
serious  times  of  general  suspension  without  stopping  payment 
or  refusing  to  redeem  their  notes  in  constitutional  currency." 

He  was  a  fine  specimen  of  manly  beauty,  with  regard  to 
which  he  was  not  free  from  vanity.  Like  Lord  Byron,  he 
dreaded  becoming  fleshy,  and  his  physician  induced  him  to  take 
up  cigar  smoking  as  a  preventive.  He  had  great  difficulty  in 
acquiring  the  habit,  since  smoking  nauseated  him  at  first.  But, 
after  determined  practice,  he  became  addicted  to  smoking  to 
excess.  Like  Gen.  Grant,  he  was  rarely  to  be  seen  without  a 
cigar  in  his  mouth,  and  he  invariably  tendered  his  cigar-case 
to  his  friends  before  opening  conversation,  even  in  the  street. 
The  result  was  a  cancerous  sore  under  the  tongue  not  unlike 
that  which  caused  the  death  of  Gen.  Grant.  An  operation  for 
its  removal  was  performed,  but  was  unsuccessful,  and  he  died 
from  its  effects  Jan.  13,  1869. 

In  1865  I  received  from  Col.  McKay  a  letter  (already 
quoted)  in  which  he  showed  himself  cheerful  under  his  heavy 
war  losses,  and  quite  hopeful  of  building  himself  and  the  com 
munity  of  Charleston  up  again  commercially.  To  that  end  he 
proposed  to  re-establish  his  bank,  and  invited  the  writer  and  his 
friends  to  take  stock  in  the  enterprise.  Of  course,  I  responded 
gladly,  and  I  also  sent  him  some  $6,000  as  a  loan,  with  the 
request  that  he  make  use  of  it  in  case  he  needed  temporarily  a 
little  ready  cash. 

Within  a  short  time  the  stock  of  the  People's  Bank  became 
a  valuable  investment,  and  its  judicious  loans  greatly  encour 
aged  and  stimulated  the  growth  of  business  in  South  Carolina. 
Col.  McKay  offered  repeatedly  to  pay  the  loan,  but  I  always 
urged  him  to  keep  it  as  long  as  he  could  make  it  profitable  at 
seven  per  cent. 

I  received  a  letter  from  him  dated  the  very  day  of  his  death, 
apprising  me  for  the  first  time  of  his  dangerous  malady,  and 
informing  me  of  his  determination  to  make  the  hazard  of  going 
under  the  surgeon's  knife  rather  than  endure  the  torture  of 
the  cancer  any  longer.  He  inclosed  his  check  for  the  old  loan, 
with  Interest,  and  gave  explanations  regarding  some  of  my 
affairs,  of  but  little  moment,  which  were  under  his  manage- 


DONALD  L.  McKAY 

Reproduced  from  a  steel  engraving  made  about  1855 
after  a  daguerreotype 


RECONCILIATION  279 

ment.  He  said  that  he  was  writing  the  letter  as  his  last  business 
transaction,  at  ten  o'clock  a.  m.,  and  that  his  appointment  with 
the  surgeon  was  for  one  o'clock  p.  m.  The  rest  may  be  imag 
ined.  Even  at  this  remote  date  my  feelings  at  the  loss  of  this 
friend  are  so  intense  that  I  cannot  suitably  express  them.  Such 
friendships  are  rare,  and  gratitude  is  but  a  poor  return  for 
them. 

Early  in  May  of  this  same  year  (1869)  I  decided  to  retire 
from  active  business,  and  sent  the  following  letter  of  resigna 
tion  to  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Great  Western  Marine 
Insurance  Company: 

"  NEW  YORK,  i2th  May,  1869. 

"  To  SAMUEL  D.  BABCOCK,  ESQ.,  JAMES  M.  BROWN,  ESQ.,  WIL 
SON  G.  HUNT,  ESQ.,  JOHN  R.  GARDNER,  ESQ.,  JOHN  F. 
SCHEPELER,  ESQ.,  Finance  Committee: 

"  Gentlemen: — Desiring  to  retire  from  active  business  and  to 
devote  more  time  to  my  private  affairs,  I  hereby  tender  my 
resignation  as  President  of  the  Company,  to  take  effect  from 
the  first  of  July  next. 

"  I  cannot  refrain  from  expressing  how  reluctantly  I  sever 
the  long  and  pleasant  official  relation  with  your  board,  whose 
influence  and  judicious  co-operation  within  the  past  fourteen 
years  have  placed  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company 
among  the  first  marine  institutions  in  the  world.  Permit  me 
on  this  occasion  to  return  my  heartfelt  thanks  to  you  individ 
ually,  and  through  you  to  each  member  of  the  board  for  the 
many  acts  of  kindness  and  uniform  confidence  extended  to  me 
during  my  administration,  enabling  me  to  overcome  the  many 
trying  ordeals  incident  to  a  most  hazardous,  perplexing,  and 
responsible  occupation. 

"  My  retiring  will  not  in  the  least  abate  my  interest  in  the 
Company,  for,  apart  from  the  large  interest  I  keep  invested  in 
its  Capital  Stock,  the  success  of  the  Great  Western  is  among 
the  most  treasured  aspirations  of  my  life. 
"  I  am  very  respectfully, 
"  Yours  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  Pres." 


280  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

A  month  later  I  received  the  following  communication,  which 
calls  for  no  comment : 

"  OFFICE  OF  THE  GREAT  WESTERN  INSURANCE  COMPANY, 
39  WILLIAM  ST.,  NEW  YORK,  June  10,  1869. 

"  At  a  meeting  of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Great  West 
ern  Marine  Insurance  Company  of  the  City  of  New  York  on 
the  loth  day  of  June,  in  the  year  1869,  Mr.  H.  F.  Spalding, 
of  the  Committee  appointed  at  a  previous  meeting  of  the  Board 
to  prepare  resolutions  expressive  of  the  sentiments  of  the  Board 
upon  the  occasion  of  the  retirement  of  Mr.  Lathers  from  the 
Presidency  of  the  Company,  presented  the  following  resolu 
tions,  which  were  unanimously  adopted  by  the  Board : 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Great  West 
ern  Marine  Insurance  Company  have  received  with  regret  the 
announcement  of  Richard  Lathers,  Esq.  (the  President  of  the 
Company  from  its  foundation),  that  he  desired  to  retire  from 
the  management  of  the  Company,  upon  considerations  relating 
to  his  personal  interests,  and  that  he  accordingly  resigned  his 
office  to  give  opportunity  for  the  election  of  his  successor. 

"  '  Resolved,  That  the  intelligent,  faithful,  and  constant  de 
votion  of  Mr.  Lathers  to  the  interests  of  this  Company  is  cor 
dially  recognized  by  the  Board  of  Directors  in  their  own  behalf 
and  in  behalf  of  the  body  of  the  stockholders,  as  one  of  the 
chief  causes  of  the  great  prosperity  which  has  attended  the 
conduct  of  the  business  of  the  Company  from  the  beginning, 
and  of  the  large  returns  upon  their  investment  in  its  stock, 
which  it  has  made  to  its  holders. 

" '  Resolved,  That  the  board  gladly  bears  testimony  to  the 
justice  and  liberality  of  Mr.  Lathers  in  his  dealing  with  the 
customers  of  the  Company,  with  the  underwriters  of  the  city, 
and  with  the  general  mercantile  community,  and  congratulates 
him  upon  having  maintained  for  himself  and  the  Company 
the  credit  of  a  wise  and  upright  administration  of  the  weighty 
interest  dependent  upon  his  care,  during  peace  and  war,  and 
through  the  great  vicissitudes  of  trade  and  currency  which  have 
marked  the  period  of  the  Company's  history. 


RECONCILIATION  281 

" '  Resolved,  That  the  Board  of  Directors  will  take  measures 
to  prepare  and  present  to  their  retiring  President  a  service  of 
plate,  to  preserve  in  the  eyes  of  himself  and  his  family  some 
memory  of  our  obligations  to  him,  and  of  our  grateful  acknowl 
edgment  of  them.  "  '  WILLIAM  M.  EVARTS, 

"  '  HENRY  F.  SPALDING, 
"  '  WILLIAM  H.  GUION, 
"  '  JAS.  B.  JOHNSTON, 
" '  N.  CHANDLER, 

"  '  Committee.'  " 
To  this  I  replied : 

"  NEW  YORK,  June  24th,  1869. 
"  MESSRS.  W.  M.  EVARTS,  H.  F.  SPALDING,  W.  H.  GUION,  J. 

BOORMAN  JOHNSTON,  N.  CHANDLER,  Committee : 
"  Gentlemen- — I  have  received  through  the  Secretary  a  copy 
of  the  Resolutions  reported  by  you  and  adopted  unanimously  by 
the  Board  of  Directors  expressive  of  their  kind  appreciation 
of  my  services  during  my  long  official  connection  with  them 
in  the  organization  and  management  of  the  Company.  The 
confidence  and  support  which  these  gentlemen  have  uniformly 
extended  to  me,  and  the  valuable  influence  of  their  names  on 
both  sides  of  the  Atlantic  as  endorsers  of  the  credit  and  integ 
rity  of  the  Company,  have  been  the  chief  instruments  of  the 
Company's  success,  and  will  continue,  I  trust,  under  the  able 
administration  which  succeeds  me,  to  keep  the  Great  Western 
Insurance  Company  among  the  first  marine  institutions  in  the 
world.  The  approbation,  therefore,  of  such  a  body  of  men  at 
the  close  of  my  administration  fills  the  measure  of  my  highest 
ambition.  I  shall  treasure  these  Resolutions  as  the  most  valu 
able  heritage  of  my  family  and  the  most  valued  record  of  my 
business  reputation.  Be  kind  enough  to  convey  my  grateful 
thanks  to  the  Board  for  the  Resolutions  within  referred  to,  and 
accept  for  yourselves,  as  a  committee,  my  sincere  appreciation 
of  the  friendly  language  in  which  they  are  couched. 
"  I  am  very  respectfully, 
"  Yours  truly, 

"RICHARD  LATHERS." 


282   REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

The  two  following  communications — one  from  the  officers 
and  clerks  and  the  other  from  the  clerks — gave  me  even  more 
pleasure,  if  that  is  possible,  than  that  from  the  Board  of  Di 
rectors,  because  of  their  absolutely  spontaneous  character : 

"  GREAT  WESTERN  INSURANCE  COMPANY, 

"  NEW  YORK,  24th  June,  1869. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.  : 

"  Dear  Sir: — Having  learned  with  sincere  regret  that  you 
have  severed  your  official  connection  with  this  Company,  we, 
the  officers  and  clerks,  cannot  permit  the  opportunity  to  pass 
without  testifying  to  you  in  some  substantial  manner  the  esteem 
in  which  we  hold  you,  and  the  gratitude  we  feel  for  your  many 
acts  of  kindness,  during  the  many  years  of  our  association 
together. 

"  We  desire  that  you  will  give  us  the  gratification  of  sitting 
for  your  portrait,  that  you  may  keep  it  as  a  memento,  ever 
reminding  you  of  the  regard  in  which  you  are  held. 

"  We  should  be  glad  if  you  would  inform  us  whether  it 
would  be  agreeable  for  you  to  accede  to  our  wishes,  and  if  so, 
we  desire  that  you  should  select  your  own  artist  at  your 
convenience. 

"  On  behalf  of  the  officers  and  clerks  we  remain, 

"  Yours  respectfully, 
"ALEX.  R.  McKAY, 
"  JAMES  C.  LUCE, 
"  J.  R.  SMITH, 
"CHARLES  F.  ALLEN, 

"  Committee." 

"  GREAT  WESTERN  INSURANCE  COMPANY, 

"  NEW  YORK,  26  July,  1869. 
"  RICHARD  LATHERS,  ESQ.  : 

"  Dear  Sir: — We,  the  undersigned,  on  behalf  of  our  fellow 
clerks  of  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company,  desire  your 
acceptance  of  the  accompanying  set  of  Resolutions  adopted  on 
the  occasion  of  your  resignation  as  President  of  the  Company. 


RECONCILIATION  283 

"  These  Resolutions  express  our  sincere  feelings  towards 
you,  and  they  are  offered  with  the  hope  that  they  may  occa 
sionally  serve  to  remind  you  of  those  you  are  leaving,  and  se 
cure  for  them  a  place  in  your  memory. 

"  We  remain,  very  respectfully  yours, 

"  CHARLES  F.  ALLEN, 

"  J.  R.  SMITH, 

"  WILLIAM  H.  MAYTON, 

"  Committee." 

The  portrait  referred  to  above  was  painted  by  Daniel  Hunt- 
ington,  President  of  the  National  Academy,  and  is  now  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  where  it  was  hung  by  special  request 
of  the  Chamber,  it  being  contrary  to  precedent  to  receive  the 
portrait  of  a  member  during  his  lifetime. 

The  presentation  of  the  silver  service  and  of  the  Huntington 
portrait  occurred  at  my  New  Rochelle  residence,  Winyah 
Park,  on  the  evening  of  October  21. 

The  following  report  of  the  exercises  is  a  portion  of  an 
article  which  appeared  in  the  Port  Chester  Journal  of  the  next 
day : 

"  Mr.  Evarts,  in  making  the  presentation,  said :  '  Mr. 
Lathers,  it  is  with  great  pleasure  that  it  has  devolved  upon  me 
to  tender  to  you  in  behalf  of  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Com 
pany  and  myself,  in  the  presence  of  your  family  and  this  large 
assemblage  of  friends,  this  token  of  our  esteem  and  regard  for 
your  faithful  services  in  the  management  of  the  affairs  of  the 
Company  through  its  many  vicissitudes.  You  retire  of  your 
own  choice  to  devote  your  attention  to  your  domestic  affairs. 
The  Company  was  founded  with  a  view  of  increasing  the  busi 
ness  and  effecting  greater  stability  and  security  in  marine  in 
surance,  and  at  the  same  time  withdrawing  the  attention  of 
the  public  from  the  too  attractive  schemes  of  the  purely  mutual 
system.  Some  steadiness  and  firmness  of  faith  were  necessary 
to  cope  with  the  unequal  competition  and  glittering  returns  of 
the  mutual  system.  The  founders  of  this  Company  desired  to 
establish  something  more  safe,  more  permanent,  even  if  less 


284  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD   LATHERS 

brilliant  in  its  apparent  results.  At  one  time  it  seemed  doubtful 
whether  their  efforts  would  prove  successful,  and  it  was  feared 
that  they  might  have  to  be  abandoned.  When  we  consider  that 
the  early  experience  of  the  Company  was  of  the  most  embar 
rassing  character,  that  the  country  has  had  to  pass  through  a 
fearful  storm  of  war  and  panic,  you  may  well  feel  proud  that 
you  have  carried  us  through  in  safety,  with  all  sails  set,  with 
every  spar  strong,  and  with  every  name  bright  and  honest. 
Now,  Mr.  President,  in  addition  to  the  series  of  Resolutions 
which  the  Board  of  Directors  have  adopted,  expressive  of  their 
grateful  recognition  of  your  valuable  and  faithful  services,  and 
the  Resolutions  of  the  clerks  of  the  Company  accompanied  by 
the  handsome  portrait  of  yourself  as  a  memento  to  their  es 
teem  and  appreciation  of  your  kind  and  courteous  bearing 
towards  them,  you  have  set  before  you  this  service  of  plate, 
which  is  but  a  vehicle  of  our  good  wishes  to  be  constantly  be 
fore  your  family  and  yourself,  and  those  who  may  partake  of 
your  generous  hospitality,  as  an  agreeable  reminder  of  what 
we  feel  toward  you.  Everybody  can  give  advice,  but  very  few 
are  disposed  to  receive  it.  To  give  advice  is  human,  but  to  re 
ceive  it  is  angelic.  It  is  true  that  I  make  no  pretensions  to 
having  given  it  gratuitously.  In  conclusion  I  would  beg  your 
acceptance  of  this  plate,  with  the  recommendation  that  you 
keep  it  bright  without  and  full  within.' 

"  Col.  Lathers,  in  response  to  the  remarks  of  Mr.  Evarts, 
said: 

"  '  I  accept  this  valuable  and  artistic  present  with  grateful 
feelings.  This  magnificent  testimonial  of  your  regard  shall 
be  transmitted,  I  trust,  to  my  children  as  the  evidence  of  their 
father's  good  fortune  in  having  served  men  who  were  as 
liberal  in  their  recognition  of  faithfulness,  as  they  were  sa 
gacious  and  generous  in  directing  the  business  of  an  institution 
second  to  none  in  fostering  and  protecting  the  mercantile 
operations  of  our  great  country.  While  sensibly  impressed 
with  your  kind  approbation  by  the  contemplation  of  the  beau 
tiful  emblem  of  hospitality  and  by  the  gratification  it  affords 


RECONCILIATION  285 

me  that  you  have  honored  me  by  being  the  first  to  inaugurate 
its  usefulness,  I  feel  a  degree  of  pride  in  having  demonstrated 
that  the  best  material  for  the  management  of  a  corporation 
is  men  of  prominent  success  in  their  own  business.  It  has 
been  usual  for  presidents  in  forming  and  operating  corpora 
tions,  to  select  personal  friends  as  directors ;  but  I  have  always 
avoided  blending  social  ties  with  business  operations.  The 
Directors  of  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company  were  a 
body  of  the  most  distinguished  merchants  and  bankers  whom 
the  city  of  New  York  afforded,  nearly  equally  divided  among 
the  great  commercial  nationalities — American,  French.  Ger 
man,  Dutch  and  Greek.  Care  was  even  observed  to  represent 
the  different  sections  of  our  own  country,  so  that  the  Board 
was  and  is  virtually  international.  I  had  not  the  pleasure  of 
knowing  intimately  a  single  member  of  the  original  Board, 
and  most  of  them  I  did  not  know  by  sight  at  the  first  meeting 
for  the  organization  of  the  Company.  Even  our  distinguished 
counsel  was  only  known  to  me  as  a  rising  lawyer  of  great 
promise,  whose  eloquent  and  logical  defense  of  the  Union  at 
Castle  Garden,  and  telling  speeches  against  sundry  delinquent 
insurance  companies,  who  were  disputing  claims  under  their 
policies,  satisfied  me  that  a  lawyer  who  could  defend  the 
Union  and  Constitution  with  so  much  zeal  and  ability,  and 
could  also  record  so  many  verdicts  against  tardy  underwriters, 
was  the  proper  material  for  the  counsel  of  our  Company.  I 
need  not  say  that  the  united  suffrages  of  intelligent  men  of  all 
parties  and  his  distinguished  reputation  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic  as  an  orator,  statesman  and  jurist,  have  fully  justified 
the  selection.  Indeed,  the  Board  and  Counsel  seem  to  have 
conspired  against  any  attempt  of  the  officers  to  resist  claims 
however  unreasonable,  and  the  officers,  for  the  protection  of 
the  Company  and  to  serve  the  ends  of  justice,  were  con 
strained  to  refuse  any  business  emanating  from  doubtful 
sources.  The  business  of  the  Company  being  thus  confined 
to  merchants  of  probity,  but  little  talent  was  required  to  con 
duct  it  to  a  reasonable  measure  of  success.  The  Company, 


286  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

thus  organized  and  continued,  has  passed  through  fourteen 
years  of  vicissitudes  of  the  most  trying  nature — commercially 
and  politically.  The  Board,  composed  of  the  most  active  mer 
chants  and  bankers  of  the  city,  has  convened  monthly  at  pre 
cisely  the  same  hour  and  the  same  minute  during  the  entire 
period,  with  a  regularity,  promptness  and  unanimity  which 
probably  have  never  been  equaled  by  any  corporation.  No 
resolution  has  ever  been  referred  which  has  not  passed  unani 
mously,  and  while  every  proposition  has  been  fully  discussed, 
no  personal  or  disagreeable  remark  has  ever  been  uttered  by 
the  Board  during  the  fourteen  years.  Even  my  own  rather 
positive  political  course,  at  a  time  of  great  sectional  excitement, 
was  kindly  tolerated  by  gentlemen  who  were  earnestly  opposed 
to  my  political  proclivities,  and  often,  as  I  gratefully  remember, 
shielded  me  from  the  aspersions  of  renegades  from  my  own 
Party.  Thank  God  these  sectional  questions  are  passing  away, 
and  good  men  of  all  parties  and  all  sections  come  together, 
forgetting  past  issues,  wrhich  had  been  greatly  misrepresented 
by  corrupt  and  designing  men.  But  I  cannot  refrain  from 
recalling  these  trying  incidents  of  our  official  connection,  that 
I  may,  while  expressing  my  appreciation  of  your  uniform  co 
operation  in  the  business  of  the  Company,  express  also  my 
gratitude  for  your  generous  personal  support  at  a  time  when 
prejudice  and  passion  too  often  usurped  the  place  of  reason, 
and  severed  the  ties  of  the  closest  friendship. 

u  l  The  success  of  the  Great  Western  is  therefore  attributable 
to  the  zealous  co-operation  of  an  active  Board  of  Directors, 
with  large  interests  of  their  own  to  manage,  who  shaped  the 
general  operations  of  the  Company,  but  wrisely  left  the  details 
of  the  business  to  the  judgment  of  the  officers.  Their  influence 
both  at  home  and  abroad  gave  the  Company  an  unquestionable 
credit,  and  their  known  watchfulness  of  its  fair  dealing  and 
legitimate  operation  established  and  confirmed  its  reputation. 
The  Stockholders  and  the  mercantile  community  have  thus 
been  mutually  benefited,  and  its  retiring  President  may  well 
be  indulged  the  expression  of  a  laudable  pride  in  the  honor 
of  having  presided  over  such  a  body  of  men  for  fourteen  years 


RECONCILIATION  287 

and  in  receiving  so  substantial  an  expression  of  their  appro 
bation. 

'  With  my  best  wishes  for  the  continued  success  of  the 
Company,  its  directors,  officers  and  clerks,  and  my  grateful 
acknowledgments  to  you,  Sir,  for  your  kind  manner  of  con 
veying  the  compliment  extended  by  the  Board,  I  have  only  to 
close  my  remarks  by  thanking  our  honored  guests  for  their 
presence,  hoping  that  each  one  of  them  may  be  favored  with 
a  service  as  creditable  to  the  artists  who  fabricated  it,  as  it  is 
to  the  committee  whose  taste  is  illustrated  in  the  design.' ': 

The  following  year  I  completed  my  withdrawal  from  active 
participation  in  business  by  resigning  my  membership  in  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce. 

One  hot  day,  not  very  long  before  I  retired  from  the  Presi 
dency  of  the  Great  Western,  I  dropped  in,  as  I  was  in  the 
habit  of  doing  after  banking  hours,  upon  Mr.  Moses  Taylor, 
the  hard-working  President  of  the  National  City  Bank,  which 
was  located  in  Wall  Street,  only  a  few  doors  away.  I  found 
Mr.  Taylor  in  his  little  office  at  the  end  of  the  hall,  in  his 
shirtsleeves  and  busily  engaged  making  entries  in  two  mon 
strous  account  books,  which  were  devoted  to  his  private  affairs. 
He  had  allowed  his  private  secretary  to  leave  with  the  em 
ployees  of  the  Bank,  he  said,  because  he  thought  his  factotum 
needed  recreation  more  than  he  did  himself. 

After  a  little  general  conversation,  Mr.  Taylor  remarked : 
"  I  perceive  you  are  about  to  resign  your  Presidency  in  the 
Great  Western.  You  are  too  young  to  retire  from  business, 
and  must  be  very  rich  to  afford  the  loss  of  your  large  salary." 
I  said,  "  No,  Mr.  Taylor,  you  know  I  am  not  very  rich.  But 
I  have  enough  to  take  care  of  my  family  if  they  will  consent, 
as  I  think  they  will,  to  live  modestly  on  my  income ;  and  if 
they  will  not,  I  have  no  idea  of  dying  of  apoplexy,  as  many  do, 
to  make  them  rich."  u  Perhaps  you  are  wise,"  he  responded ; 
'"but  few  will  follow  your  example  in  this  day  of  large  for 
tunes  in  our  city." 

In  a  very  short  time  the  painful  news  came  to  me  that  my 


288  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD   LATHERS 

good  friend  had  paid  the  penalty  of  overworking  his  brain. 
He  was  prostrated  many  days  by  the  attack,  but  was  able  to 
converse  with  friends.  When  I  called,  he  reminded  me  of 
our  last  meeting,  but  generously  relieved  me  of  embarrassment 
by  saying  that  he  knew  my  remark  was  only  intended  as  a 
jocular  reply  to  his  own  question. 


CHAPTER    X 

REAL    RECONSTRUCTION 

IN  the  fall  of  1870  (with  a  view  to  studying  and  aiding,  as 
far  as  I  might,  the  financial  and  commercial  development  of 
the  South),  I  took  up  my  residence  in  Charleston.  I  had 
abundant  occasion  to  observe  there  that  the  carpet-bag  officials 
of  South  Carolina  took  a  fiendish  delight  in  persecuting  the 
respectable  citizens  (who  could  not  help  showing  contempt  for 
their  ignorance  and  resentment  for  their  robberies)  by  bring 
ing  against  them  as  many  charges  of  disloyalty  as  would  be 
entertained  by  the  courts ;  and  these  were  legion,  for  the  officers 
of  the  courts  were  only  too  glad,  as  a  rule,  to  take  sides  with 
the  persecutors.  Among  others  who  became  obnoxious  to 
these  disreputable  interlopers  was  the  aged  and  much  revered 
ex-Postmaster  of  Charleston,  Alfred  Huger,  who  was  too 
honest  to  hide  the  loathing  he  felt  for  them. 

Alfred  Huger  was  of  Huguenot  blood,  a  descendant  in  direct 
line  from  the  man  of  the  same  name  who  so  gallantly  released 
Lafayette  from  the  political  prison  of  Olmutz  during  the 
French  Revolution.  He  had  served  as  Postmaster  in  his  na 
tive  city  of  Charleston  from  1835  or  thereabouts  (when  he 
was  called  to  succeed  the  Postmaster  who  had  been  appointed 
by  President  Washington)  till  1865 — an  example  of  long 
tenure  of  office  which  would  have  been  remarkable  in  any 
other  part  of  this  country  than  the  South,  where,  in  ante 
bellum  days,  political  services  were  not  held  to  establish  a 
claim  to  office,  and  where  there  were  no  political  bosses  who 
could  have  secured  a  position  for  even  a  street  sweeper. 

Like  most  young  men  of  education  and  social  position  in 
his  State,  Huger,  after  leaving  college,  was  ambitious  to  enter 
the  Legislature  and  had  no  difficulty  in  doing  so. 

When  Jackson's  celebrated  Force  Bill  came  up  for  discussion 

289 


290  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

before  that  body,  he  defended  the  action  of  the  President  and 
Congress  (to  the  great  indignation  of  the  Nullification  mem 
bers  and  the  great  surprise  of  his  friends),  on  the  ground 
that  the  revenue  laws,  like  all  other  laws  wise  and  unwise, 
should  be  supported.  He  admitted  that  he  believed  them  un 
wise  and  against  the  interests  of  the  State,  but  he  insisted 
that  they  must  be  enforced  by  the  Federal  authorities  until 
they  could  be  legally  abolished,  or  constitutional  government 
would  become  a  farce.  This  action  on  his  part  caused  his 
constituents  in  Charleston  to  hold  an  indignation  meeting, 
which  unanimously  passed  a  resolution  asking  for  his  resig 
nation.  To  this  he  calmly  replied,  that,  while  he  could  not 
recognize  the  doctrine  of  instruction  to  members  of  legislative 
bodies  \vhich  had  been  accepted  in  some  other  States  (never 
in  Carolina),  he  would  have  promptly  surrendered  his  com 
mission  if  the  request  for  him  to  do  so  had  been  based  on  his 
mental  or  moral  incapacity;  but  that  he  could  not  think  of 
resigning  at  the  behest  of  a  portion  of  his  constituents  (how 
ever  large  that  portion  might  be),  when  their  avowed  object 
was  to  fill  his  place  with  another  who  would  take  the  same 
oath  he  had  taken  to  support  the  Federal  as  well  as  the  State 
Constitution  and  uphold  the  Federal  as  well  as  the  State  laws, 
and  would  then  deliberately  perjure  himself.  He  added  that 
he,  their  present  representative,  would  be  guilty  of  a  base  act 
of  cowardice  if  he  should  abandon  his  place,  since  he  would 
not  only  be  shirking  his  duty  as  a  citizen,  but  would  be  acting 
unfairly  towards  those  of  his  constituents  who  were  loyal,  to 
the  National  Government  and  who  expected  him  to  be  loyal 
to  his  oath  of  office. 

This  patriotic  and  manly  defense  of  the  Government  was  re 
peated  to  President  Jackson,  who  was  as  quick  to  reward  pub 
lic  service  as  he  was  to  denounce,  with  more  fervor  than 
judgment,  any  opposition.  He  promptly  removed  the  Post 
master  of  Charleston  (the  Charleston  Postmastership  being 
at  that  time  the  only  position  of  honor  and  emolument  in 
South  Carolina  which  the  President  controlled)  and  appointed 
Huger  to  succeed  him.  Huger  at  once  wrote  to  the  Presi- 


ALFRED  HUGER 

Reproduced  from  a  photograph  of  a  painting  by   A.  H.  Emmons, 
made    for    Colonel   Lathers    shortly   after   the   war 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  291 

dent,  expressing  his  gratitude  for  the  honor  intended,  but 
adding,  "  If  I  am  correct  in  supposing  that  your  Excellency 
has  been  moved  to  this  means  of  honoring  me  by  any  fancied 
or  real  service  of  mine  to  yourself  and  the  country,  then  I 
desire  to  ask  as  a  further  favor  of  your  administration  that 
you  reinstate  the  Postmaster  you  have  removed,  who,  while 
he  may  have  unwisely  antagonized  your  Union  policy  (in 
fluenced,  no  doubt,  by  the  unfortunate  perversion  of  State 
Rights,  which  I  know  how  hard  it  is  to  resist),  was  yet  ap 
pointed  by  President  Washington,  and  is,  in  all  respects,  as  a 
citizen  and  an  official,  perfectly  acceptable  to  the  people ;  and 
it  has  never  been  the  practice  in  this  State  to  appoint  or  re 
move  officeholders  for  political  reasons." 

This  generosity  met  a  hearty  response,  and  the  commission 
was  promptly  returned  to  the  old  Postmaster,  who  died  in 
office  a  year  or  so  after,  when  Jackson  again  appointed  Huger. 
He  was  occupying  this  position  when  I  visited  Charleston  in 
1861,  and  I  found  him  as  staunch  and  fearless  a  Union  man 
then  as  when  he  made  his  speech  against  Nullification  in 

1833- 

When  the  Confederacy  had  been  fully  organized  under  the 
Presidency  of  Jefferson  Davis,  this  Union  veteran  was  re 
moved  ;  but  the  citizens  of  Charleston,  true  to  their  inherited 
ideas  regarding  officeholding,  remonstrated  bravely,  telling 
President  Davis  that  their  firmly  established  custom  of  re 
taining  good  men  in  office,  regardless  of  political  differences, 
should  not  be  interfered  with.  So  President  Davis  promptly 
appointed  Huger  to  fill  his  own  vacancy.  But  here  a  difficulty 
arose ;  Huger  said  he  could  not  serve  as  an  official  under  a 
government  which  he  regarded  as  revolutionary,  however 
much  he  respected  the  persons  controlling  it,  though  he  should 
conform  as  a  private  individual  to  the  changed  situation 
through  force  of  circumstances.  His  friends  advanced  the 
same  arguments  which  he  had  presented  to  Jackson  in  1833 
in  favor  of  the  retention  of  his  predecessor.  They  said  that 
the  citizens  of  Charleston,  respecting  his  long  and  firm  advo 
cacy  of  the  Union,  did  not  expect  him  to  change  his  views 


292  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

on  that  subject,  but  only  desired  his  honest  and  efficient  ser 
vices  in  the  Post  Office  as  formerly.  He  consented,  finally, 
on  condition  that  he  should  be  permitted  to  seal  in  a  box  the 
postage  stamps  and  the  gold  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  which  were  in  his  official  custody,  deposit  them  in 
such  bank  or  place  of  safety  as  he  might  select,  and  return  them 
to  their  rightful  owner  after  the  peace,  which  at  that  time 
was  generally  hoped  for,  had  been  attained.  The  box  was 
duly  placed  in  one  of  the  Charleston  banks  and  labeled,  "  The 
property  of  the  United  States  in  the  custody  of  its  e.r-Post- 
master,  Alfred  Huger." 

When  the  bombardment  of  Charleston  commenced,  Huger 
applied  to  the  Confederate  authorities  for  permission  to  re 
move  this  sealed  box  to  a  place  of  safety  some  hundred  miles 
from  the  coast,  and  the  request  was  granted,  although  it  was 
regarded  as  the  foolish  whim  of  an  oversensitive  officeholder. 
In  due  time,  however,  the  Confederate  authorities  made  use 
of  the  funds,  notwithstanding  the  Charleston  pledge. 

During  the  War  Mr.  Huger's  plantation  was  raided  and  his 
plantation  buildings  burned  by  a  Union  gunboat  dispatched 
up  one  of  the  rivers  for  the  express  purpose  of  punishing 
a  "  rebel  "  postmaster.  He  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his 
Charleston  residence,  also,  before  the  War  was  over,  by  the 
great  conflagration  which  nearly  destroyed  Charleston.  I  am 
informed  that  after  the  burning  of  his  city  house,  the  last  thing 
of  value  he  had,  he  and  his  wife,  who  were  both  in  declining 
years,  were  found  seated  on  a  stone  not  far  away  from  the 
ruins  with  a  basket  of  silver  by  their  side,  which  was  all  they 
had  been  able  to  save  from  the  flames. 

Under  the  carpet-bag  regime,  the  carpet-bag  District  Attor 
ney  brought  suit  against  this  unfortunate  man  for  the  Post 
Office  money  which  the  Confederate  Government  had  confis 
cated — some  three  or  four  thousand  dollars,  perhaps.  The 
case  came  before  my  friend,  the  United  States  Circuit  Judge 
Bryan,  an  old  Union  man  appointed  by  President  Lincoln 
because  of  his  sterling  character.  The  facts  were  proven  to  be 
those  I  have  just  detailed,  and  the  judge  not  only  emphasized, 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  293 

in  his  charge  to  the  jury,  the  honest  effort  of  the  postmaster, 
but  explained  that  it  is  universal  law  that  when  a  government 
is  unable  for  any  reason  to  protect  its  officers,  the  officers 
cannot  be  held  responsible  for  any  loss  which  may  arise.  The 
jury,  without  leaving  their  seats,  acquitted  the  defendant.  To 
the  surprise  of  everyone,  the  carpet-bag  District  Attorney  gave 
notice  of  an  appeal,  claiming  that  in  some  old  decision  in  the 
West  it  had  been  ruled  that  a  public  fiscal  officer  was  always 
liable  whether  protected  or  not,  and  he  announced  that  he  pro 
posed  under  that  ruling  to  prosecute  the  claim  further. 

Many  ineffectual  attempts  were  made  to  have  the  case 
heard  speedily  by  the  Appellate  Court,  and  the  Attorney-gen 
eral  (one  Ackerman,  a  carpet-bag  official  from  the  North,  but 
appointed  from  Georgia)  was  asked  to  dismiss  the  case,  but 
he  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  all  entreaties.  Having  been  an  ex 
treme  Secessionist  in  Georgia,  where  he  had  lived  for  some 
time  before  and  during  the  War,  said  Ackerman  posed  in 
Washington,  after  the  War,  as  a  fervent  Union  man,  and  he 
resented,  as  such  renegades  always  do,  the  well-earned 
reputation  of  Mr.  Huger,  with  whose  loyal  record  he  was 
perfectly  familiar. 

As  I  had  the  honor  of  knowing  President  Grant  and  many 
of  his  Cabinet,  I  determined  to  go  to  Washington  and  reveal 
there  the  true  history  of  Huger's  official  life  from  the  Jack 
son  administration  to  the  close  of  the  Civil  War.  Armed  with 
letters  from  distinguished  Republicans — among  them  William 
M.  Evarts,  Moses  Grinnel,  and  William  E.  Dodge — I  called 
upon  President  Grant,  who  expressed  great  sympathy  for  the 
Union  Ex-Postmaster  as  soon  as  he  heard  his  story,  and 
promised  me  that  he  would  relieve  Huger  of  a  disgraceful 
prosecution.  I  promptly  advised  Mr.  Henry  Gourdin  and 
C.  T.  Loundes,  friends  and  bondsmen  of  Huger,  of  the  happy 
outcome  of  my  mission.  But  I  had  hardly  reached  my  summer 
residence  in  the  North  when  I  received  a  rather  tart  letter 
from  the  President  saying  that  the  Attorney-general  had  in 
formed  him  that  the  Huger  case  was  before  the  Appellate 
Court,  not  on  the  appeal  of  the  prosecution  as  I  had  stated, 


294  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

but  on  the  appeal  of  the  lawyer  of  the  defendant,  who  had 
been  convicted  instead  of  acquitted.  I  went  to  Charleston 
immediately,  and  arming  myself  there  with  the  verdict  of  the 
jury  under  the  seal  of  the  Court  verifying  the  statements  I 
had  made  to  the  President,  I  returned  to  Washington.  The 
President  informed  me  he  was  glad,  for  my  sake,  of  this  veri 
fication,  but  that  he  could  not  render  the  assistance  he  would 
like  to  render  because  the  Attorney-general  had  objected  to 
his  official  interference  until  the  case  was  formally  adjudicated 
by  the  Court.  He  offered  to  give  me  a  letter  to  the  Attorney- 
general  expressing  his  sympathy  for  Mr.  Huger.  I  told  the 
President  that  I  feared  the  prejudice  of  his  official,  who,  being 
an  old  Secessionist  transformed  into  a  carpet-bag  Union  man, 
would  resent  everything  friendly  to  a  genuine  Union  man's 
cause.  The  letter  was  received  by  the  Attorney-general  ex 
actly  as  I  had  feared  it  would  be.  With  great  pomposity,  he 
informed  me  that  he  was  too  busy  to  listen  to  these  rebel  ap 
peals.  I  forgot  myself  and  replied,  "  Mr.  Attorney-general, 
I  am  and  always  have  been  a  Union  Southern  man,  and  if  I 
am  not  mistaken  we  were  not  on  the  same  side  before  or  dur 
ing  the  war.  I  am  here  in  behalf  of  an  original  Union  South 
ern  man  who  is  being  persecuted  by  carpet-baggers,  many  of 
whom  were  not  long  since  in  rebellion.  I  am  here  with  the 
President's  letter ;  have  you  any  reply  for  me  to  carry  back 
to  him?"  He  said,  "I  am  not  here  to  be  interrogated  by 
you."  I  then  said,  "  Will  you  say  when  you  will  investigate 
the  matter  as  the  President  requests?  I  am  here  on  a  mission 
of  public  policy,  and  I  propose  to  discharge  it.  And  while 
I  am  always  properly  impressed  by  the  dignity  of  public  offi 
cials,  I  cannot  divest  my  mind  of  the  fact  that  you  are  but 
a  public  servant  whose  salary  I  help  to  pay,  and  I  am  not  dis 
posed  to  rank  you  above  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
who  appoints  and  directs  you,  and  who  has  had  the  courtesy  to 
listen  to,  and,  in  my  judgment,  to  sympathize  with  the  griev 
ance  of  Mr.  Huger.  In  fact,  by  letter,  he  refers  the  matter 
to  you  for  relief  as  coming  within  the  province  of  your  speci 
fic  duties." 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  295 

Ackerman  said  finally  that  he  might  look  into  the  case  in 
a  couple  of  weeks,  but  he  did  not  appear  to  recognize  my 
view  of  our  mutual  relations,  and  we  parted  in  very  bad 
temper.  The  utter  incapacity  of  this  man  compelled  the  Presi 
dent  to  remove  him  not  long  after,  and  he  appointed  Gen. 
Williams,  a  sound  lawyer,  as  his  successor. 

On  learning  of  the  change,  I  visited  Columbia  and  laid  the 
Huger  case  before  the  new  Attorney-general.  He  listened  to 
me  sympathetically,  and  said :  "  Return  to  Charleston  and  put 
your  statements  into  writing  and  I  think  I  can  relieve  your 
friend."  I  had  just  finished  a  letter  to  Gen.  Williams,  in  ac 
cordance  with  this  advice,  when  Mr.  Wm.  H.  Aspinwall,  en 
route  from  Florida  to  New  York,  called  on  me  in  Charleston. 
After  spending  an  evening  with  me  he  offered  to  stop  over 
in  Washington,  if  he  could  be  of  service  to  me  there.  I  at 
once  produced  the  letter  to  the  Attorney-general  I  had  been 
preparing,  and  said,  "  If  you  concur  in  these  statements  and 
can  get  Mr.  Fish,  Secretary  of  State,  to  present  this  document, 
you  will  be  doing  one  of  your  customary  kind  and  liberal  acts 
for  the  South."  He  replied,  "  Apart  from  my  sympathy  with 
the  South,  it  would  afford  me  great  pleasure  to  serve  Mr. 
Huger,  for  his  brother,  I  believe,  was  a  classmate  of  mine  at 
college." 

In  due  course  I  received  a  formal  document  from  Attor 
ney-general  Williams  discharging  the  complaint  against  Alfred 
Huger.  As  I  had  heard  that  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huger  were 
unable  to  leave  the  house  by  reason  of  illness,  I  sent  the  dis 
charge  to  Mr.  Huger's  two  bondsmen,  who  dispatched  it  with 
all  speed  to  Mr.  Huger  by  a  mounted  messenger.  The  mes 
senger  found  both  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Huger  confined  to  their 
beds,  the  latter  having  just  injured  herself  seriously  by  a  fall. 
But,  when  the  discharge  was  read,  she  sprang  out  of  bed, 
exclaiming,  "  Now  I  can  die  in  peace,  for  my  husband's  official 
honor  is  vindicated." 

A  short  time  after,  I  attended  the  funeral  of  this  much  per 
secuted  Union  man.  The  sad  occasion  was  rendered  doubly 
sad  by  the  agony  of  the  aged  wife,  whose  loyalty  and  affec- 


296  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

tion  had  never  failed  her  husband  during  his  long  and  dra 
matic  career. 

Another  Union  Southerner — also  of  Huguenot  descent — 
who  had  made  himself  so  indispensable  to  his  fellow-citizens 
by  a  long  career  of  usefulness  that  they  insisted  on  having  the 
benefit  of  his  services  (in  spite  of  his  Union  sentiments) 
during  the  Civil  War,  was  James  L.  Petigru.  He  was  selected 
as  codifier  of  the  State  laws  because  he  was  considered,  by 
reason  of  his  pre-eminence  in  legal  learning,  the  patriarch  of 
the  South  Carolina  bar.  He  possessed  a  moral  courage  which 
made  him  follow  unswervingly  what  he  believed  to  be  right 
without  posing  as  a  reformer  or  as  a  victim.  In  the  words 
of  Judge  Bryan  (another  noble  Union  Southerner),  "James 
L.  Petigru  knew  that  the  gate  of  power — the  only  gate  to 
power  under  the  Confederacy — was  through  the  State.  He 
knew  that  through  the  State  alone  could  he  hope  to  reach  the 
country  and  the  wrorld  and  win  the  large  distinction  worthy 
of  his  talents.  But  he  loved  his  people  better  than  himself, 
and  lie  could  not  subscribe  to  a  creed  which  he  believed  would 
carry  death  to  the  country  and  bring  ruin  on  his  State.  So, 
without  complaint,  he  submitted  himself  to  his  limited  and 
narrow  destiny." 

In  1869  the  Charleston  Chamber  of  Commerce  sent  a  me 
morial  to  Congress  asking  the  National  Government  to  trans 
form  the  old  Charleston  Customhouse  and  Post  Office  building 
(which  was  rapidly  falling  into  ruins  from  neglect)  into  a  Post 
and  Telegraph  Office ;  but  Congress  showed  little  disposition  to 
accede  to  this  request.  In  June,  1870,  while  I  was  on  a  visit  to 
Washington,  I  received  a  letter  from  S.  Y.  Tupper,  First 
Vice-President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  urging  me  to 
do  what  I  could  to  further  this  project.  Accordingly,  I  paid 
a  visit  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  appealed  to  him  to 
save  a  Revolutionary  edifice  in  which  the  patriot  Hayne  had 
paid  the  penalty  of  his  patriotism  with  his  life,  and  which 
bears  the  same  relation  to  Charleston  and  South  Carolina  as 
Faneuil  Hall  bears  to  Boston  and  Massachusetts.  The  Sec 
retary  sent  at  once  for  his  architect  and  directed  him  to  repair 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  297 

the  building,  and  to-day  this  grand  old  monument  stands  as 
a  splendid  illustration  of  the  fact  that  blood  is  thicker  than 
water. 

In  December  of  this  year  I  attended,  as  a  delegate  from 
Charleston,  the  Convention  of  the  National  Board  of  Trade 
at  Buffalo.  A  sumptuous  banquet  was  offered  the  visitors  by 
the  merchants  of  that  city.  The  morning  before  this  event  a 
representative  of  one  of  the  daily  journals  called  on  me  and  re 
quested  a  copy  of  the  speech  which  he  understood  I  was  to  make 
to  the  toast,  "  Our  Country."  He  observed  that  the  appoint 
ment  of  a  delegate  from  South  Carolina  to  respond  to  that 
sentiment  was  a  proper  compliment  to  my  well-known  Union 
attitude  before  and  during  the  war,  and  his  journal  desired 
to  obtain  a  copy  of  my  remarks  in  advance,  so  that  they  could 
be  printed  in  the  morning  edition. 

I  sat  down  and  prepared  an  address,  and,  handing  it  to  the 
reporter,  requested  him  to  send  slips  to  the  other  papers  and 
one  to  myself  in  time  for  me  to  use  it  at  the  dinner.  This  re 
quest  was  overlooked,  and,  being  engaged  all  day  in  the  dis 
cussions  of  the  Convention,  I  had  no  opportunity  to  go  to  the 
office  for  my  speech  before  it  was  time  to  dress  for  the 
dinner.  I  made  a  few  hasty  notes,  therefore,  and  spoke  there 
from,  depending  on  the  inspiration  of  the  occasion.  I  closed 
by  toasting  Ex-President  Fillmore,  who  sat  on  my  right,  and 
asked  that  the  toast  be  drunk  standing.  This  was  done  with 
a  will,  after  which  Mr.  Fillmore  made  a  patriotic  response. 

The  next  morning  two  speeches  attributed  to  me  appeared 
in  the  Buffalo  papers.  One  was  from  the  copy  I  had  furnished, 
and  the  other  from  the  stenographic  reports  of  the  banquet. 
Considerable  discussion  arose  between  the  papers  as  to  which 
of  the  two  speeches  was  genuine.  I  was  so  mortified  that  I 
did  not  preserve  a  copy  of  either.  My  impression,  however, 
is  that  the  reported  speech  was  the  better  of  the  two,  because 
it  had  the  advantage  of  the  reporter's  corrections  of  the  infelic 
ities  of  expression  which  are  likely  to  abound  in  an  extempo 
raneous  after-dinner  utterance. 

President   Fillmore's   absolute   withdrawal    from   public   af- 


298  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

fairs  in  his  later  years  had  somewhat  abated  his  influence  even 
in  his  own  city  of  Buffalo.  When  I  was  asked  to  speak  to  the 
toast,  "  Our  Country/'  by  the  committee  of  the  Buffalo  ban 
quet,  I  said  that,  while  I  appreciated  the  compliment,  I  thought 
that  Mr.  Fillmore,  as  Ex-President  of  the  United  States,  ought 
to  respond  to  that  sentiment.  To  this  the  chairman  laughingly 
replied,  "  Oh,  we  have  old  Fillmore  always  with  us  '  to  do  the 
patriotic,'  and  we  desire  South  Carolina  to  take  it  up."  In  fact, 
no  place  was  given  to  Mr.  Fillmore  in  the  programme,  and  he 
would  not  have  been  called  upon  to  speak  but  for  my  toasting 
of  the  Ex-President  of  the  United  States. 

A  short  time  after  the  expiration  of  Mr.  Fillmore's  term  as 
President — a  position  which  he  filled  very  acceptably  to  both 
parties — I  happened  to  meet  him  in  Broadway  near  Bond  Street 
one  morning,  and  as  the  weather  was  fine  we  walked  down 
town  together  for  the  sake  of  the  exercise.  I  was  actively  en 
gaged  in  business  at  that  time,  and  when  we  reached  Fulton 
Street  I  was  naturally  recognized  by  many  of  my  business 
acquaintances.  Mr.  Fillmore  remarked  playfully,  "  Colonel, 
you  must  be  very  popular  in  this  quarter."  I  replied  in  the 
same  tone  of  pleasantry,  "  Not  nearly  as  popular,  Mr.  Presi 
dent,  as  you  were  while  you  were  in  office.  I  well  remember 
what  a  stir  it  made  when  you  passed  down  Wall  Street  among 
the  great  financiers.  In  this  location,  Mr.  President,  a  live 
dog  is  more  valued  than  a  dead  lion." 

At  a  meeting  of  the  Charleston  Board  of  Trade,  March  31, 
1871  (one  of  the  largest  meetings  known  in  the  history  of  the 
Board),  the  first  organized  protest  in  South  Carolina  against 
the  abuses  of  carpet-bag  rule  was  made  by  arranging  for  the 
assembling  at  Columbia  of  a  Tax-Payers'  Convention  which 
should  represent  the  interests  of  the  taxpayers  of  the  entire 
State. 

I  quote  herewith  a  portion  of  the  printed  official  report  of 
the  proceedings  of  this  Board  of  Trade  meeting : 

"  The  meeting  was  called  to  order  by  the  chairman,  Vice- 
President  Geo.  H.  Walter,  who  spoke  as  follows: 


REAL   RECONSTRUCTION  299 

'  Gentlemen  of  the  Board  of  Trade: — The  purpose  of  your 
meeting  is  to  take  into  consideration  the  present  financial  con 
dition  of  the  State,  and  by  deliberation  to  devise  such  meas 
ures  as  will  enable  us,  by  co-operation  with  our  fellowr-citi- 
zens  throughout  this  commonwealth,  to  relieve  ourselves  of 
the  intolerable  burdens  which  now  oppress  us  in  the  present, 
and  with  an  ominous  prospect  of  their  being  increased  in  the 
future,  unless  prompt  and  decisive  action  at  once  be  taken.  It 
is  only  necessary  to  look  at  the  alarming  increase  of  the  debt 
of  the  State,  and  the  reckless  expenditure  which  has  marked 
the  history  of  the  State  for  the  past  five  years,  to  satisfy  us 
at  once,  that,  as  taxpayers,  we  are  bearing  a  burden  too  grievous 
to  be  borne,  and  which  must  inevitably  result  in  bankruptcy 
and  ruin.  It  means  confiscation,  and  there  are  those  who  do 
not  hesitate  to  announce  that  such  is  the  purpose.  We  are 
to  be  taxed  out  of  our  property. 

'  I  am  unwilling,  with  others,  to  submit  to  this  condition  of 
affairs  without  an  effort  to  remedy  the  evil. 

"  '  In  1860,  with  the  taxable  property  of  the  State  valued  in 
round  numbers  at  $500,000,000,  the  people  of  South  Carolina 
supported  an  economical  and  honest  government  at  a  cost  of 
about  $400,000,  while  the  debt  of  the  State  was  about  $5,000,- 
ooo.  To-day  we  are  taxed  upon  a  property  which,  at  an  over 
estimated  assessment,  is  less  than  $190,000,000,  and  are  told 
that  we  will  be  called  upon  to  raise  $4,000,000  to  pay  the  in 
terest  on  a  debt  of  $15,000,000,  and  the  so-called  expenses 
of  the  State.  Thus,  while  the  taxable  property  has  decreased 
in  value  about  sixty-two  per  cent.,  our  taxes  have  been  in 
creased  ten-fold,  and  the  debt  of  the  State  three-fold  in  the 
same  period.  It  is  due  to  ourselves  to  protest  against  the 
continuation  of  this  iniquity,  and,  in  unmistakable  language,  to 
state  that  we  will  no  longer  tolerate  it.  With  this  great  fraud 
perpetrated  in  the  past,  it  is  now  proposed  to  create  a  new 
loan  to  be  known  as  the  "  Sterling  Debt."  It  is  only  another 
"  turn  of  the  screw,"  which  is  already  destroying  us,  and  it  is 
our  duty  to  ourselves,  as  well  as  "  good  faith  "  with  the  present 
honest  creditors  of  the  State,  publicly  and  clearly  to  affirm  to 


300  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

them,  and  to  warn  the  capitalists  who  may  be  disposed  to  make 
such  a  loan,  that  we  regard  its  creation  as  illegal,  and  that  we 
will  resist  its  payment  by  all  legitimate  means.  I  trust  your 
deliberations  will  be  marked  with  harmony  and  unanimity,  and 
result  in  promoting  the  best  interests  of  this  commonwealth. 

"  '  The  meeting  is  ready  for  business.' 

"  Col.  Richard  Lathers  of  this  city,  for  many  years  the 
President  of  the  Great  Western  Marine  Insurance  Company 
of  New  York,  arose  and  submitted  the  following  resolutions : 

"  '  WHEREAS,  Under  the  operation  of  the  present  State  Gov 
ernment,  the  majority  of  the  property  holders  and  taxpayers 
of  the  State,  from  whom  the  public  revenue  is  mainly  derived, 
are  excluded  from  any  power  in  the  legislation  of  the  State, 
and  from  any  practical  influence  in  the  imposition  of  taxes : 

"  '  AND  WHEREAS,  The  moneys  raised  by  taxation  are  im- 
providently  and  corruptly  used  and  expended  by  persons  who 
hold  office  under  the  State  Government,  and  the  sums  ap 
propriated  for  alleged  public  uses  are  excessive  and  extrava 
gant: 

"  '  AND  WHEREAS,  The  credit  of  the  State  has  been  pledged 
illegally,  and  it  is  now  proposed  to  pledge  the  credit  of  the  State 
for  further  loans,  by  a  new  issue  of  bonds,  which  may  be 
negotiated  in  the  market  to  persons  who  may  take  them,  in 
ignorance  of  the  circumstances  under  which  they  are  issued. 
Therefore, 

'  i.  Resolved,  That  we,  the  property  holders  and  taxpayers 
of  the  State,  residing  in  the  City  of  Charleston,  do  hereby  deem 
it  our  duty  to  declare  that  the  bonds  heretofore  issued  without 
legal  sanction,  and  the  so-called  "  Sterling  Loan,"  or  any  other 
bonds  or  obligations  hereafter  issued  purporting  to  be  under, 
and  by  virtue  of  the  authority  of  this  State,  will  not  be  held 
binding  on  us,  and  that  we  shall,  in  every  manner  and  at  all 
times  resist  the  payment  thereof,  or  the  enforcement  of  any 
tax  to  pay  the  same,  by  all  legitimate  means  within  our  power. 

"  '  2.  Resolved,  That  we  deem  it  our  duty  to  warn  all  persons 
not  to  receive,  by  way  of  purchase,  loan,  or  otherwise,  any 
bond  or  obligation  hereafter  issued,  purporting  to  bind  the 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  301 

property  or  pledge  the  credit  of  the  State;  and  that  all  such 
bonds  or  obligations  will  be  held  by  us  to  be  null  and  void, 
as  having  been  issued  corruptly,  improvidently,  and  for  fraudu 
lent  purposes,  and  in  derogation  of  the  rights  of  that  portion 
of  the  people  of  this  State  upon  whom  the  public  burdens  are 
made  to  rest. 

"  '  3.  Resolved,  That  the  taxpayers  of  the  State  are  hereby 
requested  to  meet  in  their  respective  counties  for  the  consid 
eration  of  this  subject,  and  the  enormous  tax  levies  of  the 
current  year,  and  for  the  appointment  of  two  delegates  to 
represent  each  county  in  a  State  Convention  to  be  held  in 
Columbia  on  the  second  Tuesday  in  May  next,  for  the  same 
purpose. 

"  '  4.  Resolved,  That  this  State  Convention  of  Taxpayers  be 
requested  to  confer  with  his  Excellency,  the  Governor,  on  the 
dangerous  fiscal  condition  of  the  State,  and  request  his  official 
aid  and  co-operation  in  the  investigation  of  the  accounts  of 
the  Comptroller  and  the  State  Agent  in  New  York,  so  that 
the  amount  and  character  of  the  bonded  debt  and  all  other 
liabilities  of  the  State  can  be  clearly  stated,  with  a  view  to 
such  further  action  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  protection  of 
the  public  creditors  and  of  the  taxpayers  of  the  common 
wealth.'  " 

These  resolutions  were  unanimously  adopted  after  remarks 
in  their  favor  by  myself  and  others,  and,  at  a  subsequent  meet 
ing,  Mr.  Henry  Gourdin  and  I  were  appointed  to  represent 
the  Board  in  the  proposed  Convention. 

The  Taxpayers'  Convention  opened  May  9,  and  continued 
in  session  four  days,  at  the  end  of  which  it  adjourned  subject 
to  future  call.  Hon.  W.  D.  Porter  was  unanimously  elected 
its  President.  Resolutions  were  passed  and  a  petition  to  the 
Legislature  was  adopted.  Little  was  accomplished,  it  is  true, 
in  the  way  of  direct  practical  relief,  but  an  impression  was 
created  in  the  public  mind  that  the  administration  of  the  af 
fairs  of  the  State  must  be  more  in  accord  with  the  desires  of 
honest  and  conservative  citizens  hereafter. 


302   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

At  the  Annual  Dinner  of  the  Hibernian  Society  on  St. 
Patrick's  Day,  1872,  at  the  anniversaries  of  the  New  England 
Society  on  Forefathers'  Day  in  1872  and  1873,  and  at  prac 
tically  all  the  other  frequent  public  occasions  at  which  I  spoke 
during"  my  residence  in  Charleston,  I  made  it  a  point  to  em 
phasize  the  necessity  of  a  revolt  on  the  part  of  all  good  citi 
zens  of  both  colors  against  the  disgraceful  situation  in  which 
the  State  had  been  placed ;  and  in  the  political  campaign  of 
1872  I  supported  actively  the  Greeley  ticket  (particularly  in 
Western  Massachusetts,  where  I  had  a  summer  residence),  be 
cause  the  success  of  this  ticket  seemed  calculated  to  bring  about 
the  reforms  of  which  the  South  stood  in  such  sore  need. 

The  committee  appointed  to  notify  Horace  Greeley  formally 
of  his  nomination  arranged  to  meet  him  at  his  celebrated  farm, 
Chappaqua,  which  was  only  a  few  miles  from  my  Westchester 
residence.  I  was  invited  by  this  committee  to  accompany 
them  and  introduce  them  to  my  rural  neighbor,  with  whom  my 
personal  relations  (possibly  because  of  our  common  love  of 
agriculture)  had  always  been  friendly,  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  I  had  been  roundly  abused  by  the  Tribune.  We  reached 
the  Chappaqua  depot  about  eleven  o'clock  and  found  Mr. 
Greeley  waiting  for  us  in  the  garb  in  which  he  was  always 
depicted  by  the  caricaturists.  He  greeted  us  all  in  a  most 
neighborly  manner — quite  as  if  we  had  come  to  look  over  his 
farm — marched  us  up  hill  and  down  dale  to  a  spring  about 
which  numerous  tin  cups  were  ranged,  and  invited  us  to  try 
the  water,  which,  the  day  being  sultry,  we  were  not  loath  to 
do.  He  then  conducted  us  to  his  residence,  on  the  beautiful 
lawn  of  which  a  sumptuous  lunch  was  spread.  After  being 
presented  to  Mrs.  Greeley  and  his  daughters,  we  formed  a 
circle  and  the  chairman  of  the  committee  read  an  address  of 
notification,  to  which  Mr.  Greeley  replied  in  an  effective,  com 
mon-sense  speech  which  contained  the  usual  promises  of  a 
candidate.  Lunch  was  then  served,  speeches  followed,  and 
we  left,  determined  to  elect  our  compromise  and  reform  can 
didate. 

The   beautiful   spirit   of   Horace   Greeley   and   his   splendid 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  303 

magnanimity  were  exemplified  by  his  kindness  after  the  war 
to  the  Southerners  who  came  to  New  York  for  the  means 
with  which  to  re-establish  their  ruined  enterprises. 

It  was  my  habit  to  give  such  assistance  as  I  could  to  my 
friends,  and  to  solicit  for  them  such  credit  from  business  men 
as  would  enable  them  to  operate  their  mercantile  and  manu 
facturing  plants.  I  found  Horace  Greeley  an  ever-ready  and 
efficient  supporter  of  the  unfortunate  journalists.  Not  only 
did  he  say  kind  things  of  them  in  his  editorials,  but  he  lent 
them  his  credit  to  enable  them  to  procure  type  and  paper.  On 
meeting  him  in  the  street  one  day,  I  said,  "  Mr.  Greeley,  I 
\vant  to  express  my  thanks  to  you  for  your  kind  and  liberal 
response  to  my  recommendations  of  needy  Southern  friends, 
for  you  have,  indeed,  been  their  good  angel."  He  retorted 
rather  sharply,  "  If  you  have  truly  felt  this  way,  why  did  you 
introduce  your  friend  Rhett  of  the  Charleston  Mercury  to 
others  instead  of  to  me  ?  "  To  this  I  replied,  "  I  could  not 
be  so  rude  as  to  ask  you  for  assistance  for  the  editor  of  the 
Charleston  Mercury,  your  life-long  enemy,  whose  abuse  you 
returned  in  terms  still  more  violent."  "  Ah !  there  you  were 
mistaken,"  he  answered.  "  You  did  not  correctly  estimate  my 
character.  Nothing  would  have  afforded  me  more  pleasure 
than  to  have  returned  my  old  enemy  kindness  for  his  persist 
ent  abuse." 

Greeley  was  exceedingly  brusque,  however,  with  applicants 
for  his  favor  when  his  sympathies  were  not  enlisted. 

One  day  a  big,  burly  negro  preacher,  carrying  an  enormous 
gold-headed  cane  and  arrayed  in  a  correspondingly  enormous 
white  clerical  cravat,  called  on  Greeley  in  his  sanctum,  where 
everyone  had  access  to  him  without  ceremony  or  previous 
notice.  He  was  standing  up,  as  usual,  at  a  high  desk,  busily 
writing.  The  intruder,  finding  that  Greeley  paid  no  attention 
to  his  entrance,  rapped  on  the  floor  with  his  cane.  Greeley 
looked  at  him  a  moment  and  said,  "  Well  ?  "  and  returned  to 
his  writing.  The  clerical  visitor  again  gave  Mr.  Greeley 
notice  of  his  presence  by  another  rap  on  the  floor.  Greeley, 
continuing  to  write,  said,  "  State  your  business."  "  I  have 


304  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

called,  Sir/'  the  preacher  said,  "  to  ask  you  what  can  be  done 
for  the  moral  and  physical  elevation  of  our  race,"  whereupon 
Greeley  turned  and  said,  "  Let  them  go  down  to  New  Jersey 
and  raise  sweet  potatoes." 

The  last  two  years  of  my  stay  in  Charleston  were  rendered 
exceedingly  agreeable  by  the  fact  that  I  was  privileged  to  en 
tertain  a  large  number  of  Northern  visitors  who  acquired 
thereby  a  better  understanding  of  the  South  and  a  friendlier 
feeling  toward  it. 

The  following  from  the  Charleston  News  and  Courier  of 
March  20,  1873,  tells  in  detail  the  first  of  the  occasions  on  which 
I  was  able  to  bring  together  socially  representative  citizens  of 
the  South  and  of  the  North. 

"A    LEAF    FROM    HISTORY 

"WHY  THE  FEDERAL  GOVERNMENT  DID  NOT  PROSECUTE 
JEFFERSON   DAVIS 

"  A  distinguished  party  of  gentlemen  from  Massachusetts 
who  arrived  in  the  city  last  Wednesday  on  their  way  farther 
South,  and  a  select  party  of  Charleston  gentlemen,  who  had 
been  invited  to  meet  them,  were  entertained  by  Col.  Richard 
Lathers  at  his  mansion  on  the  South  Battery  yesterday  after 
noon.  The  visitors  from  the  North  were  the  Hon.  John  H. 
Clifford,  who  has  held  successively  the  positions  of  Attorney 
General,  Governor  and  Supreme  Court  Justice  of  Massachu 
setts,  and  who  is  now  the  President  of  the  Boston  and  Provi 
dence  R.  R.  Company;  the  Hon.  John  C.  Hoadley,  of 
Lawrence,  Mass. ;  Major  H.  Seabrooke ;  and  one  or  two  other 
gentlemen.  The  Charlestonians  who  were  invited  to  meet 
them  included  a  number  of  the  most  prominent  gentlemen  of 
the  city,  and  the  meeting  of  these  representative  men  from  the 
antipodes  of  the  country  proved  an  exceedingly  pleasant  one, 
both  parties  taking  occasion  to  express  to  their  host  the 
pleasure  that  the  meeting  afforded  them. 

"  Judge  Clifford  is  one  of  the  most  distinguished  jurists 
of  Massachusetts  and  has  been  prominently  connected  with 
several  events  which  have  become  matters  of  national  history. 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  305 

The  famous  Webster-Parkman  murder  occurred  while  he  was 
the  Attorney  General  of  Massachusetts,  and  he  conducted 
the  prosecution  of  that  case  to  its  final  result  in  the  execution 
of  Dr.  Webster  for  his  atrocious  crime.  Another  event  of 
great  historical  interest  in  which  Judge  Clifford  participated, 
was  the  solemn  consultation  of  a  small  number  of  the  most 
able  lawyers  of  the  North  at  Washington,  a  few  months  after 
the  war,  upon  the  momentous  question  as  to  whether  the 
Federal  Government  should  commence  a  criminal  prosecution 
against  the  Hon.  Jefferson  Davis,  for  his  participation  and 
leadership  in  the  War  of  Secession.  In  this  council,  which 
was  surrounded  at  the  time  with  the  greatest  secrecy,  and 
which  has  never  yet  been  described,  were  United  States  At 
torney  General  Speed,  Judge  Clifford,  the  Hon.  William  M. 
Evarts,  and  perhaps  a  half  dozen  others,  who  had  been  selected 
from  the  whole  Northern  profession  for  their  legal  ability 
and  acumen ;  and  the  result  of  their  deliberation  was  the  sud 
den  abandonment  of  the  case  by  the  Federal  Government  in 
view  of  the  insurmountable  difficulties  in  the  way  of  getting 
a  final  conviction,  which  were  revealed  by  their  patient  study 
of  the  law  bearing  upon  the  case.  Mr.  Hoadley,  then  and  now 
a  near  neighbor  and  intimate  friend  of  Judge  Clifford,  relates 
that  before  the  latter  set  out  for  Washington  to  join  this  con 
ference,  he  paid  him  (Mr.  Hoadley)  the  compliment  of  call 
ing  upon  him  to  consult  upon  the  momentous  question  which 
he  was  about  to  assist  in  solving,  and  it  was  agreed  between 
them  that  unless  it  were  clear  that  the  conviction  of  Mr.  Davis 
would  follow  his  trial,  and  that  the  law  and  the  facts  on  the 
side  of  the  prosecution  would  be  irresistible  in  the  Supreme 
Court  as  well  as  in  whatever  court  of  original  jurisdiction  the 
case  might  be  initiated,  it  would  be  the  part  of  wisdom  and 
true  statesmanship,  as  well  as  policy,  not  to  begin  the  pros 
ecution.  The  conference  took  place  and  was  long,  learned  and 
profound.  The  Federal  Constitution,  the  law  of  nations,  the 
decisions  of  the  Supreme  Court,  the  trial  of  Aaron  Burr  and 
other  causes  celcbres  having  more  or  less  bearing  on  the  case 
then  under  consideration,  and  the  whole  list  of  state  trials 


3o6  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

in  the  history  of  the  civilized  world,  were  studied,  weighed, 
analyzed  and  dissected.  The  council  was  divided  upon  some 
points  and  agreed  upon  others.  Some  were  strenuous  for 
prosecution,  others  who  had  weighed  the  subject  more  care 
fully,  insisted  from  the  first  upon  the  futility  of  such  a  course, 
and,  finally,  the  wiser  councils  of  the  latter  prevailed  and  the 
proposed  prosecution  of  Mr.  Davis  was,  as  will  be  remembered, 
suddenly  abandoned,  although  it  may  be  doubtless  news  to 
many  of  our  readers  to  learn  that  this  sudden  change  of  policy 
was  the  direct  result  of  this  solemn  conclave.  After  the  coun 
cil  had  adjourned,  and  Judge  Clifford  had  returned  to  his 
home,  Mr.  Hoadley  inquired  the  result  of  their  deliberations, 
and  Judge  Clifford  made  a  striking  and  characteristic  reply 
in  something  like  the  following  language ;  '  Remarkable  as 
the  fact  may  appear,  we  find  that  the  laws  of  the  United 
States  are  not  so  constructed  as  to  afford  any  certainty  of 
punishing  high  treason  or  rebellion,  and  Mr.  Davis,  if  ar 
raigned  under  them,  cannot  be  brought  to  conviction.  Per 
haps  it  is  that  the  men  who  framed  our  fundamental  law  and 
system  of  government,  and  who  were  then  fighting  for  liberty, 
with  halters  about  their  necks,  did  not  pay  much  attention  to 
the  question  of  punishing  in  the  future  the  acts  which  they 
were  committing  themselves.' 

"Another  reminiscence  illustrating  the  sentiment  of  the  think 
ing  men  of  the  North  in  1865,  was  related  by  Mr.  Hoadley, 
of  the  Hon.  John  A.  Andrew,  then  Governor  of  Massachusetts. 
It  was  on  the  day  of  the  grand  review  of  the  Federal  Army 
in  Washington ;  a  number  of  gentlemen  were  being  entertained 
at  the  residence  of  General  S.  L.  M.  Barlow,  in  that  city,  and 
the  conversation  had  turned  to  the  subject  of  bringing  the 
leaders  of  the  Confederate  cause  to  punishment  under  the 
Federal  law  of  the  land,  when  Gov.  Andrew  expressed  himself 
as  follows :  '  It  cannot  be  done — the  criminal  law  has  no  ap 
plication  here.  Why,  it  is  proved  by  its  very  title  that  the 
criminal  law  is  a  law  for  criminals — the  laws  or  the  code  of 
laws  formed  by  the  great  body  of  the  people,  who  are  in  the 
main  good  men,  for  the  regulation  and  punishment  of  the  bad 


REAL   RECONSTRUCTION  307 

men  scattered  here  and  there  throughout  society.  But  when  a 
whole  people  commit  an  act,  rash,  impolitic  and  direful  in  its 
consequences  though  it  may  be,  and  the  best  and  wisest  men 
and  women  of  the  whole  people  participate  therein,  encourage 
and  lead  it,  it  is  impossible  to  consider  the  criminal  law  as 
being  framed  to  meet  that  case,  or  as  being  in  any  way  ap 
plicable  thereto.  These  people  appealed  to  the  arbitrament  of 
war,  and  they  have  suffered  by  the  war — that  is  their  punish 
ment.  I  believed  in  giving  them  war,  when  it  was  war  they 
wanted — yes,  and  I  gave  a  captain's  commission  once  to  a 
Massachusetts  sergeant  for  no  other  reason  than  that  he  had 
with  his  own  hands  hanged  seven  guerrillas.  That  was  war, 
that  was  the  measure  of  their  punishment,  but  criminal  law 
has  nothing  to  do  with  this  case.'  This  declaration  of  the 
emphatic  Governor  of  Massachusetts  caused  the  remark,  when 
related  yesterday,  that  it  had  an  historical  parallel  in  the  fa 
mous  words  of  Burke,  when  he  told  the  British  Parliament,  in 
reference  to  the  American  Revolutionists,  that  he  '  knew  of 
no  way  to  write  an  indictment  of  a  whole  people.' 

"  A  number  of  similar  reminiscences  of  both  Northern  and 
Southern  history  were  related,  and  after  an  hour  or  two  of 
pleasant  conversation  and  mutual  expressions  of  a  desire  of 
better  acquaintance  and  a  fuller  appreciation  of  the  condition 
of  both  sections  of  the  country,  the  guests  separated,  Judge 
Clifford  proceeding  with  his  family  to  Savannah,  whence  he 
expects  to  return  in  a  few  days  to  make  a  longer  stay  in  this 
city. 

"  On  Thursday  Col.  Lathers  entertained  a  small  party  at 
his  residence,  who  were  invited  to  meet  Judge  T.  Davies,  of 
the  New  York  Supreme  Court  of  Appeals,  who  is  making  a 
brief  visit  to  the  South.  A  visit  from  the  Hon.  George 
Boutwell,  late  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  and  now  Senator- 
elect  from  Massachusetts,  is  also  expected  by  Col.  Lathers  in 
the  course  of  a  week  or  two." 

About  a  month  later  the  same  journal  contained  the  fol 
lowing  : 


308  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 
"  A     BRILLIANT     RECEPTION 

"  SOUTHERN    HOSPITALITIES   TO    NORTHERN   VISITORS 

"  One  of  the  most  notable  social  events  of  the  Charleston 
season  was  the  brilliant  party  given  last  evening  at  the  man 
sion  of  Col.  Richard  Lathers,  on  the  South  Battery,  in  honor 
of  the  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour,  ex-Governor  of  New  York, 
and  the  Hon.  William  Cullen  Bryant  the  venerable  editor  of 
the  New  York  Evening  Post,  but  better  known  and  more  en 
deared  to  the  people  as  their  loved  '  Poet  of  the  Woods.' 
The  cards  of  invitation  to  this  '  At  Home  '  of  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Lathers  had  been  issued  for  some  days,  and  the  party 
assembled  in  response  was  a  most  select  and  fashionable  as 
semblage,  including  the  most  prominent  gentlemen  of  the  city, 
with  their  ladies,  as  well  as  a  number  of  military  guests  from 
the  garrison  at  the  Citadel. 

"  The  earlier  hours  of  the  evening  were  occupied  with  a 
delightful  conversazione  in  the  elegant  drawing  room  of  the 
mansion,  and  at  about  eleven  o'clock  an  invitation  from  the 
host  summoned  the  party  to  the  parlors  wrhere  supper  had  been 
prepared.  After  this  repast,  Col.  Lathers  introduced  Mr.  S.  Y. 
Tupper,  President  of  the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  who  grace 
fully  extended  a  formal  welcome  to  the  principal  guests  of  the 
evening,  and  expressed  the  obligations  of  the  whole  Southern 
people  to  the  venerated  poet  who  had  embalmed  in  the  amber 
of  poetry  the  daring  deeds  of  '  Marion's  Men,'  a  song  which 
has  been  sung  in  many  a  Southern  bivouac,  and  has  warmed  the 
hearts  of  soldiers  at  many  a  Confederate  campfire.  He  con 
cluded  with  the  sentiment  which  would  be  echoed  by  every 
guest  and  by  every  true  heart  of  the  American  people,  that  the 
noble  author  of  Thanatopsis  might,  '  When  his  summons  came 
to  join  the  innumerable  caravan '  of  pilgrims  from  this 
world  to  the  world  of  spirits,  depart  '  like  one  who  wraps  the 
drapery  of  his  couch  about  him,  and  lies  down  to  pleasant 
dreams.' 

"  Mr.  Bryant  responded  in  a  brief  but  beautiful  and  touch- 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  309 

ing  address.  He  modestly  waived  the  compliments  that  had 
been  addressed  to  him,  and  thanked  the  preceding  speaker  and, 
through  him,  the  assembled  guests,  for  the  kind  and  cordial 
welcome  extended  to  him.  Turning  from  that  subject,  how 
ever,  he  said  that  in  his  walks  through  Charleston  he  had  not 
failed  to  note  how  by  the  silent  processes  of  nature,  the  wrecks 
and  devastations  of  war  were  being  covered  and  effaced  by 
growths  of  the  fresh  spring-time,  and  he  could  not  help  hoping 
and  believing  that  in  the  same  way  and  by  similar  inscrutable 
and  divine  evolutions  of  the  will  of  Providence,  the  moral 
wounds  of  the  war  would  be  healed  and  greened  over  with 
new,  health-giving  growths  of  moral  sentiments  and  impulses, 
which  would  make  the  picture  fairer  than  ever  it  was  before 
the  rude  shocks  of  war  had  marred  its  beauty.  He  trusted 
and  believed  that  the  chivalrous,  knightly,  generous  race  which 
had  made  Southern  society  what  it  was  in  happier  days  before 
the  War,  preserved  even  in  its  overthrow  the  vitality  which 
would  produce  from  the  fallen  trunk  new  shoots  of  life  and 
vigor,  which  would  restore,  in  more  than  pristine  beauty,  the 
fair  fabric  of  the  Southern  commonwealths. 

"  The  host  next  called  upon  the  Hon.  J.  B.  Campbell  for  a 
sentiment,  and  he  responded  in  a  graceful  post-cenitical  ad 
dress,  proposing  the  health  of  the  Hon.  Horatio  Seymour, 
whose  public  services  he  enumerated  and  whose  presence  in 
Charleston  he  warmly  welcomed. 

"  Gov.  Seymour  responded  to  the  applause  of  this  senti 
ment  by  thanking  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  for  their  kindly 
welcome.  He  made  a  graceful,  appropriate  and  eloquent  ad 
dress,  in  which  he  alluded  to  the  evident  signs  of  returning 
material  prosperity  observed  throughout  the  Southern  States, 
and  nowhere  in  more  marked  degree  than  in  Charleston;  and 
gratefully  mentioned  the  warm  welcome  and  kindly  expres 
sion  of  esteem  which  had  been  given  not  only  to  himself,  but 
to  the  hundreds  of  Northern  people  who  had  been  sojourners 
in  the  South  during  the  past  few  years.  The  South,  he  said, 
had  now  passed  through,  and  was  rapidly  emerging  from,  the 
difficulties  and  embarrassments  which  had  followed  in  the 


310  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

wake  of  war,  and  her  future  promised  to  be  bright  and 
glorious,  and  it  remained  to  be  seen  whether  the  South  had 
not  in  the  long  run,  come  better  out  of  the  conflict  than  the 
North.  There  had  been  less  material  disaster  there  imme 
diately  following  the  War,  but  its  events  had  kindled  a  spirit 
of  gigantic  speculations,  unsafe  ventures  and  a  perversion  of 
business  principles  to  the  spirit  of  gambling  on  a  tremendous 
scale,  so  that  it  was  painful  to  contemplate  the  possible  re 
sult  in  the  next  few  years.  On  the  whole,  he  heartily  congrat 
ulated  the  gentlemen  of  the  South,  and  especially  those  of  the 
City  by  the  Sea,  upon  the  energy  which  they  had  displayed, 
under  the  most  disadvantageous  circumstances,  and  the  evi 
dences  of  their  returning  prosperity  which  were  everywhere 
apparent. 

"  Col.  Lathers  next  proposed  the  health  of  ex-Governor  W. 
D.  Porter,  who  responded  in  an  elegant  and  finished  address, 
full  of  dignity  and  reverence  for  the  traditions  and  memories 
of  the  past  and  hopeful  auguries  for  the  future  of  the  State. 

"  The  remainder  of  the  evening  was  pleasantly  spent  by 
the  guests  in  the  interchange  of  social  courtesies,  and  the  party 
repaired  to  their  carriages  and  their  homes  at  a  late  hour, 
charmed  with  the  elegant  hospitality  of  their  host  and  hostess, 
and  retaining  pleasant  reciprocal  recollections  of  the  Northern 
guests  and  Southern  entertainers." 

I  desire  to  relate,  in  connection  with  this  reception,  an  in 
cident  which  has  an  amusing  as  well  as  a  serious  side. 

My  friend,  Captain  Samuel  Y.  Tupper,  the  President  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce,  anxious  to  have  the  affair  a  com 
plete  success,  as  the  first  of  its  kind,  suggested  that  it  might 
be  unwise  to  invite  the  Northern  Army  officers  to  meet  the 
ladies  of  Charleston,  who  were  not  as  yet  as  much  recon 
structed  as  the  gentlemen.  He  said  that  while  he  had  much 
confidence  in  the  good  breeding  of  both  the  Charleston  ladies 
and  of  the  Yankee  officers,  yet  he  feared  that  a  disagreeable 
coldness  might  be  displayed  by  the  ladies  when  the  introduc 
tions  were  made.  I  thanked  him  for  his  thoughtful  advice, 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  311 

but  insisted  that  the  Northern  officers  must  not  be  left  out 
if  social  life  in  Charleston  was  to  be  elevated  above  the  old 
issues  which  had  proved  so  disastrous  to  Charleston  and  to 
the  South. 

The  General  who  commanded  the  post,  on  receiving  the 
cards  of  invitation  for  himself  and  his  officers,  addressed  me 
a  polite  note  of  inquiry,  precedent  to  acceptation,  asking  in 
what  garb  they  would  be  expected  to  appear,  for  he  evidently 
had  misgivings  in  common  with  many  of  my  friends  as  to  the 
United  States  Army  uniform,  which  had  not  as  yet  appeared 
in  Charleston  parlors. 

On  the  evening  of  the  reception  I  requested  my  old  friend 
Col.  Edward  Thurston,  who  had  served  in  the  Confederate 
Army  as  one  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee's  aides,  and  a  couple  of 
other  young  Confederate  officers  of  like  gallant  record  to 
help  me  in  receiving  and  in  introducing  the  guests  to  one  an 
other,  and,  as  my  aides  in  a  social  battle,  to  follow  my  lead. 
As  the  guests  began  to  arrive  I  offered  my  arm  to  the  first 
lady  who  appeared,  and  my  aides  followed  my  example  with 
the  three  ladies  who  came  after.  After  presenting  the  ladies 
to  Mrs.  Lathers  and  to  our  distinguished  guests,  who  were 
stationed  on  a  raised  dais  at  the  upper  end  of  the  long  picture 
gallery,  we  turned  immediately  around  and  introduced  our 
fair  partners,  without  consulting  them,  and,  seemingly,  as  a 
matter  of  course,  to  the  brilliantly  uniformed  Northern  offi 
cers.  We  soon  had  every  officer  introduced  to  a  charming 
Southern  lady  who  found  herself  en  tete-a-tete  with  a  gentle 
man  as  well  as  with  a  soldier;  and,  no  time  for  adverse  re 
flection  having  been  given,  good  breeding  did  the  rest.  In 
point  of  fact,  I  found  it  difficult  to  induce  many  of  these 
couples  to  adjourn  to  the  supper  room,  because  they  feared 
they  might  be  separated,  and  more  than  one  of  these  introduc 
tions  resulted  ultimately  in  marriage.  I  have  always  found 
the  brave  men  of  either  section  who  were  under  fire  most 
ready  to  make  social  concessions  in  the  interests  of  unity. 
But  I  must  admit  that  the  ladies  have  not  been  so  easy  to 
placate,  and  I  am  now  satisfied  that  I  ran  a  great  social  risk 


312   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

on  that  occasion.     I  succeeded  only  because  I  made  surprise 
the  basis  of  my  tactics. 

In  the  spring  of  1874  the  News  and  Courier  had  occasion 
to  chronicle  another  joyful  meeting  of  Northerners  and  South 
erners  in  my  South  Battery  house. 


"  DISTINGUISHED    VISITORS 

"  The  hospitable  mansion  of  Col.  Richard  Lathers,  South 
Battery,  was  thrown  open  to  a  number  of  distinguished  gen 
tlemen  and  their  families  from  the  North  who  are  making  an 
excursion  in  a  palatial  Pullman  car  which  they  brought  with 
them.  Among  the  guests  present  were  A.  L.  Dennis,  Esq., 
President  of  the  New  Jersey  Railroad  Company ;  Mrs.  Dennis ; 
Moses  Taylor,  Esq.,  President  of  the  City  Bank,  New  York; 
Samuel  Sloan,  Esq.,  President  of  the  Delaware,  Lackawanna 
and  Western  Railroad  Company ;  Joshua  Bacon,  Esq.,  Chair 
man  of  the  Finance  Committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Railroad 
Company ;  Mrs.  Bacon  and  the  Misses  Bacon ;  W.  D.  Bishop, 
Esq.,  President  of  the  New  York  and  New  Haven  Company ; 
Mrs.  Bishop;  C.  Baylis,  Esq.,  and  wife,  of  New  York;  A.  Q. 
Keasbey,  Esq.  and  wife  of  Newark ;  Mrs.  D.  Dodd,  of  Newark ; 
Albert  Rutson,  Esq.,  of  England ;  and  Rev.  M.  Cohen  Stuart, 
D.  D.,  honorable  delegate  to  the  Evangelical  Alliance  of  the 
United  States  from  Holland.  After  a  pleasant  collation,  re 
marks  were  made  by  Messrs.  Moses  Taylor,  Samuel  Sloan, 
W.  D.  Bishop  and  other  gentlemen  complimentary  to  South 
Carolina  and  the  enterprise  of  the  merchants  of  Charleston, 
and  expressing  sympathy  and  fraternal  feeling  on  the  part  of 
the  people  of  the  North  for  the  South.  Mayor  Perry,  of 
Newark,  made  a  happy  acknowledgment  on  behalf  of  his 
city  for  the  valuable  patronage  of  the  South,  which  he  said 
had  helped  to  enrich  his  community.  He  expressed  a  warm 
desire  for  the  establishment  of  still  closer  relations  with  the 
South.  The  visitors  spent  a  very  pleasant  hour  in  social  con 
verse  with  several  leading  Charlestonians  who  had  been  in 
vited  by  Col.  Lathers." 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  313 

Mr.  Alfred  L.  Dennis,  the  leader  of  the  above  party,  was 
kind  enough  to  present  me  with  a  handsomely-printed  account 
of  this  unique  journey  by  palace  car  from  New  York  to 
Florida,  from  which  I  quote  a  few  extracts  herewith : 

"  Thursday,  February  26th,  1874,  at  nine  a.  m.,  there  stood 
upon  the  rails  of  the  Pennsylvania  railroad  at  Jersey  City,  a 
miniature  dwelling  house,  capable  of  accommodating  a  family 
of  twenty-three,  ready  to  receive  its  occupants  and  to  roll 
away  from  the  Hudson  to  the  St.  John — from  the  wintry 
blasts  of  the  North  to  the  orange  groves  of  Florida.  Since 
this  is  to  be  an  attempt  to  record  the  doings  of  the  household 
for  the  next  thirty  days,  it  is  well  to  begin  with  some  descrip 
tion  of  the  house.  Let  us  look  through  it  before  its  inmates 
take  possession,  while  it  is  in  the  sole  charge  of  Charles  W. 
Rowan,  major-domo,  and  Benjamin  Harris,  cook  and  bottle- 
washer. 

"  It  is  of  the  familiar  maroon  color,  and  its  name  is  '  Penn 
sylvania/  It  consists  of  four  rooms  and  a  piazza.  A  kitchen, 
dining  room,  parlor  and  ladies'  dressing  room,  with  pantries, 
closets,  refrigerators,  cooking  range,  hot  and  cold  water,  and 
all  the  appliances  of  convenience  and  comfort  which  can  be 
compressed  into  the  space  of  a  large  railway  car.  The  dining- 
room  can  be  converted  into  sleeping  apartments.  The  piazza 
or  balcony  in  the  rear  is  large  enough  for  ten  seats.  There 
are  electric  call  bells  from  parlor  and  dining  room  to  the 
kitchen.  And  the  table  can  be  spread  with  India  china  and 
the  choicest  linen.  The  wheels  are  adjustable  to  any  width 
of  track,  so  that  it  can  move  over  any  railroad  in  the  country. 
It  is  in  fact  the  car  of  Col.  Thomas  A.  Scott,  of  the  Penn 
sylvania  Railroad,  and  has  been  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Mr. 
Alfred  L.  Dennis,  President  of  the  New  Jersey  Railroad,  for 
an  excursion  to  Florida  and  back  with  some  friends  whom  he 
has  invited  to  join  himself  and  Mrs.  Dennis  in  running  away 
from  the  March  winds.  It  was  to  leave  with  the  morning 
train  to  Washington. 

"  Before  it  started  seven  of  the  family  had  taken  possession 


REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

of  their  temporary  home.  They  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  William 
D.  Bishop  of  Bridgeport,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Charles  Baylis  of 
Brooklyn,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Samuel  Sloan  of  New  York,  and 
Mr.  Moses  Taylor,  also  of  New  York. 

"  No  stirring  incidents  of  travel  are  to  be  recorded  in  the 
journey  across  the  Newark  meadows.  At  Newark,  the  house 
hold  was  largely  increased.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Alfred  L.  Dennis, 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Nehemiah  Perry,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Martin  R.  Den 
nis,  Mrs.  Daniel  Dodd,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  A.  Q.  Keasbey,  Mr. 
Thomas  T.  Kinney,  Mr.  Samuel  S.  Dennis,  and  Mr.  Alfred 
L.  Dennis,  Jr.,  made  up  the  Jersey  part  of  the  family,  and  so 
with  nineteen  inmates,  besides  some  friends  not  yet  ready  for 
their  leave  takings,  the  little  Hotel  rolled  away  southward. 
The  furious  snowstorm  of  the  preceding  day  had  caused 
forebodings  of  delay,  and  all  were  ready  to  enjoy  the  bright 
morning  and  the  successful  departure.  At  Philadelphia,  the 
household  was  made  complete  by  the  addition  of  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Josiah  Bacon  and  daughters,  Miss  Helen  and  Miss  Anne 
Bacon.  And  now  the  house  was  full  and  merry,  and  the  trip 
was  fairly  begun.  The  day  was  devoted  to  establishing  the 
proper  relations  of  intimacy  among  the  various  members  of 
the  family,  to  discussing  plans  of  travel,  and  settling  down 
into  regular  habits  of  locomotion. 

"  The  marked  feature  of  the  day  was  the  first  dinner.  The 
household  was  too  numerous  for  the  table,  and  gallantry 
prompted  the  gentlemen  to  insist  that  the  ladies  should  dine 
first,  assisted  by  two  gentlemen.  But  the  experiment  was 
never  repeated.  The  two  gentlemen  who  devoted  themselves 
to  the  ladies  expected  to  be  welcomed  to  the  table  of  the 
gentlemen  after  the  cloth  was  removed,  to  join  them  in  dis 
cussing  the  quality  of  the  champagne  provided  for  the  trip. 
But  they  were  barred  out.  In  vain  they  implored  admission 
to  that  festive  board.  They  stood  without  the  closed  door, 
and  heard  the  '  sounds  of  revelry/  and  exhausted  all  their 
arguments  and  entreaties  upon  Mr.  Sloan,  the  master  of  the 
feast.  He  was  obdurate.  His  jolly  companions  greeted  the 
lamentations  of  the  outsiders  with  roars  of  laughter.  And 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  315 

he  would  occasionally  open  the  door  and  roll  out  an  empty 
bottle  in  mockery.  The  Mayor  had  no  power  or  process  for 
such  an  emergency,  and  the  chronicler  can  only  avenge  him 
self  by  recording  the  incident  for  the  warning  of  future 
travelers.  It  had  one  good  effect.  It  broke  up  at  once  the 
pernicious  system  of  dividing  the  sexes  at  dinner.  There 
after  a  table  was  established  in  the  parlor,  and  both  being 
graced  by  the  presence  of  the  ladies,  the  meals  in  the  car 
became  models  of  elegance  and  propriety,  and  were  enjoyed 
with  more  zest  than  those  of  any  hotel.  And  it  had  another 
good  effect.  The  merriment  of  that  first  dinner  was  so  hearty, 
that  it  put  the  whole  family  in  the  best  mood  for  enjoyment, 
and  gave  a  tone  of  good  humor  and  pleasant  feeling  that 
pervaded  the  entire  trip. 

'  Thursday,  March  5th,  was  our  day  in  Charleston.  It  was 
too  little  for  a  city  of  so  much  interest,  but  we  prepared  to 
make  good  use  of  the  short  time  allotted  to  us.  Fortunately 
it  is  a  compact  city,  lying  between  its  two  noble  rivers,  and 
through  the  kindness  of  very  attentive  friends,  we  were  able 
to  see  it  to  great  advantage.  By  the  courtesy  of  Gen.  Q.  A. 
Gilmore,  whom  we  had  met  at  Richmond,  we  were  provided 
with  a  request  to  Col.  Gilmore,  in  charge  of  the  U.  S.  troops 
in  Charleston,  to  furnish  us  with  a  Government  launch  for  a 
visit  to  Fort  Sumter.  Col.  Gilmore  called  at  the  Hotel  in  the 
evening  and  arranged  that  our  sail  across  the  bay  to  the  fort 
should  begin  at  three  o'clock.  During  breakfast,  Col.  Richard 
Lathers  came  and  invited  the  whole  party  to  assemble  at  his 
house  to  meet  some  friends  at  lunch,  which  we  accepted  with 
great  pleasure. 

''  The  morning  was  occupied  in  walking  and  driving  about 
the  old  city,  and  observing  the  points  made  famous  in  the 
War.  At  noon  we  assembled  at  the  beautiful  house  of  Colonel 
Lathers  on  the  Battery,  where  we  were  welcomed  with  great 
cordiality  and  introduced  to  a  large  company  of  gentlemen 
and  ladies  who  had  been  invited  to  meet  us.  A  fine  picture 
gallery  occupied  a  large  space  on  the  first  floor,  and  in  the 
top  of  the  house  is  a  large  library  well  stocked  with  books 


316  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

and  engravings,  and  commanding  from  two  sides  noble  views 
of  the  city  and  harbor.  From  the  balcony  we  could  see  Fort 
Sumter,  and  with  a  glass  could  trace  the  points  made  memor 
able  during  the  long  siege.  Fort  Moultrie,  Sumter,  James 
Island,  Fort  Johnson  and  other  points  whose  names  were  once 
so  terribly  familiar,  lay  beneath  us,  and  our  intelligent  host 
and  his  friends  pointed  out  to  us  the  scenes  of  the  various 
operations  of  the  War,  and  talked  of  its  trials  and  its  results, 
without  a  touch  of  bitterness  and  with  no  remark  to  awaken 
any  unkind  remembrances. 

"  Soon  we  assembled  in  the  parlors  and  found  a  very  hand 
some  entertainment.  We  were  welcomed  in  a  formal  speech 
and  Mr.  Taylor  was  called  on  to  respond.  He  appealed  to  the 
lawyer  of  our  company  as  our  talking  man,  but  that  func 
tionary  had  evidently  left  his  talking  apparatus  at  home,  sup 
posing  he  would  have  no  use  for  it  on  this  trip,  and  was 
obliged  to  call  on  Mr.  Sloan  and  Mr.  Bishop,  who  were  quite 
equal  to  the  occasion,  as  they  always  are.  The  Mayor  also 
very  gracefully  spoke  of  the  old  relations  between  his  city  and 
Charleston,  and  returned  thanks  for  our  cordial  entertainment. 
The  Editor  was  called  for  in  vain.  He  vanished  mysteriously 
towards  the  close  of  the  Mayor's  speech  and  reappeared  as 
soon  as  all  danger  of  speechmaking  had  passed.  The  vener 
able  Judge  Bryan,  of  the  U.  S.  District  Court,  made  happy 
compliments  to  the  ladies,  and  Col.  Simons  closed  with  ex 
pressions  of  kindness  and  hospitality  on  the  part  of  the  citi 
zens  of  Charleston.  It  was  an  occasion  of  great  interest,  and 
caused  a  general  feeling  that  in  this  social  intercourse  of  the 
educated  classes  of  the  North  and  the  South,  now  so  freely 
cultivated,  is  to  be  found  a  most  efficient  means  of  restoring 
good  feeling,  and  healing  finally  the  cruel  wounds  of  the 
War." 

During  their  visit  to  Charleston,  Mr.  Taylor  and  Mr.  Sloan 
became  interested  in  the  affairs  of  the  South  Carolina  Railway, 
in  which  I  was  then  a  director,  and  this  interest,  which  soon 
materalized  in  the  financial  support  of  Mr.  Taylor,  improved 


REAL   RECONSTRUCTION  317 

greatly  the  credit  of  the  company.  Later,  however,  Mr. 
Taylor  became  dissatisfied  with  the  management  of  the  road 
and  withdrew  his  support — a  loss  which  hastened  its  bank 
ruptcy. 

My  Charleston  house  was  honored  in  this  same  spring  of 
1874  by  the  presence  of  another  Northern  guest,  the  distin 
guished  Unitarian  divine,  Dr.  Henry  W.  Bellows.  While  he 
was  in  Charleston  Dr.  Bellows  sent  me  the  following  letter, 
which  I  treasure,  not  only  because  of  my  admiration  for  his 
fine  personality,  but  because  of  its  grateful  recognition  of  the 
beginning  of  an  era  of  better  feeling  between  the  North  and 
South : 

"  CHARLESTON  HOTEL,  April  15,  1874. 
"  To  COL.  LATHERS, 

a  South  Battery,  Charleston. 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  desire  to  express  in  a  form  more  permanent 
than  word  of  mouth,  my  gratitude  for  the  courtesy  shown 
myself  and  friends  by  the  elegant  entertainment  given  at  your 
house  yesterday.  For  such  unmerited  and  unexpected  cour 
tesy,  I  feel,  with  my  friends,  a  warm  obligation,  and  trust 
that  your  excellent  endeavor  to  strengthen  the  good  under 
standing  between  citizens  from  different  portions  of  our  com 
mon  country,  long  unhappily  alienated,  will  be  blessed  with  a 
grand  success.  It  was  unspeakably  pleasant  and  touching  to 
see  the  light  of  returning  confidence  in  faces  long  averted, 
and  to  find  genial  smiles  exchanged  among  those  accustomed 
for  a  time  to  cold  looks  from  each  other.  I  shall  carry  home 
a  most  delightful  sense  of  restored  affection,  and  do  my  best 
to  promote  in  my  turn  such  heavenly  charity  and  mutual  for 
giveness  as  I  saw  exhibited  in  the  distinguished  assembly  you 
gathered  at  your  hospitable  and  generous  board.  .  .  . 

"  With  high  esteem  very  cordially  your  obliged  friend  and 
servant, 

"  HENRY  W.  BELLOWS." 

Dr.  Bellows  came  to  Charleston  in  the  company  of  two 
ladies  of  refinement  for  the  advantage  of  its  genial  climate. 


3i8  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

The  party  visited  the  Battery  almost  daily  and  passed  hours 
reading  there,  beneath  the  trees,  in  full  view  of  my  piazzas. 
Just  before  leaving  for  the  North  the  Doctor  informed  me, 
over  his  glass  of  wine,  that  years  before,  during  his  early 
priesthood,  he  performed  in  New  England  the  marriage  cere 
mony  of  the  elder  lady,  now  a  widow,  and  that  he  had  recently 
become  engaged  to  the  young  lady,  her  daughter,  in  the  de 
lightful  shade  of  that  Battery  Park  of  Charleston,  South 
Carolina.  "  Such,"  said  he,  "  is  life." 

And  here  I  would  recall  an  anecdote  of  the  time  of  the 
War  (illustrative  of  President  Lincoln's  patience  under  re 
proof),  in  which  Dr.  Bellows  played  a  part.  As  soon  as  the 
Sanitary  Commission  was  organized,  Dr.  Bellows  was  ap 
pointed  its  chairman.  The  duties  of  this  office  necessitated 
frequent  interviews  with  the  Secretary  of  War  and  with  the 
President.  Dr.  Bellows'  enthusiasm  and  courtly  manners 
quickly  won  over  the  President,  and  they  came  to  have  very 
confidential  relations  with  each  other.  By  reason  of  his  ardent 
desire  for  the  success  of  the  War  and  his  interest  in  the  repu 
tation  of  the  President,  the  Doctor  expressed  such  favorable 
opinions  of  the  latter's  administration  that  he  grew  to  long 
for  his  visits  as  a  relief  from  the  annoying  criticisms  of 
Greeley  and  his  followers.  In  due  time,  however,  the  Doctor 
discovered  spots  on  the  sun,  and  set  about  to  efface  them 
with  injudicious  though  friendly  zeal. 

The  President,  as  everyone  knows,  pardoned  deserters  from 
the  army  who  had  been  condemned  to  death  by  court-martial 
so  frequently  that  he  became  a  bar  to  military  discipline.  This 
troubled  the  good  Doctor.  Accordingly  he  broached  with 
great  suavity  one  day  the  disagreeable  subject  of  the  un 
favorable  comments  of  the  press,  and  tenderly  pointed  out  the 
danger  of  giving  way  to  sympathy  so  far  as  to  obstruct  mili 
tary  discipline  in  time  of  war.  The  President,  after  listening 
with  seeming  interest,  as  was  his  kindly  habit,  said,  "  Well, 
Doctor,  I  have  heard  your  able  opinion  on  the  duties  of  an 
Executive.  Would  you  not  like  to  run  the  machine  your 
self?"  This  interview  was  related  to  me  by  Major  Opdycke, 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  319 

who  witnessed  it,  while  I  was  waiting  in  an  adjoining  room 
for  an  interview  with  the  President. 

The  continuance  of  frauds  and  misrule  in  South  Carolina, 
in  spite  of  the  protests  of  the  Taxpayers'  Convention  of  1871, 
made  it  appear  desirable,  in  1874,  to  convene  the  Taxpayers' 
Convention  again.  I  went  to  Washington  and  laid  the  griev 
ances  of  the  taxpayers  before  prominent  senators  and  rep 
resentatives,  the  Cabinet,  and  President  Grant,  with  a  view 
to  engaging  their  sympathy — an  object  which  I  found  more 
easily  realized  with  the  members  of  the  East  and  the  North 
than  with  those  of  the  West.  The  President  encouraged  the 
movement,  remarking  that  he  had  observed  that  my  course  in 
the  former  Convention  of  1871  was  strictly  non-partisan  and 
that  he  wished  to  discountenance  everything  like  fraud  or 
partisan  action  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  officeholders. 
Senator  Sumner  sent  for  me  during  my  stay  in  Washington 
to  obtain,  as  he  said,  an  exact  statement  of  the  carpet-bag  rule 
in  South  Carolina.  In  fact,  I  spent  the  last  Sunday  of  his 
life  with  him  in  his  sick-chamber.  I  found  his  rooms  filled 
with  rare  engravings,  of  which  he  was  justly  proud.  He 
seemed  to  be  much  moved  by  the  frauds  and  misrule  practiced 
by  the  negroes  and  white  adventurers,  and  promised  to  do  all 
that  he  could  for  the  white  sufferers.  As  a  staunch  anti-slavery 
advocate  he  had  resented  the  domination  of  white  masters  over 
the  negro  race,  but  he  now  equally  resented  the  oppressive  and 
dishonest  negro  rule  over  the  white  race.  He  explained  that  he 
had  opposed  the  entrance  of  the  Rebel  States  into  the  Union 
without  disciplinary  legislation,  because  he  had  feared  that  real 
slavery  of  the  negroes  would  exist  within  nominal  freedom  un 
less  the  freedmen  could  protect  themselves  by  the  use  of  the 
ballot ;  and  he  had  been  opposed  to  conferring  unlimited  suf 
frage  on  such  an  ignorant  class.  He  would  have  had  the  suf 
frage  extended  to  the  negroes  under  an  educational  qualification 
like  that  to  which  white  men  were  subjected  in  Massachusetts. 

The  rest  of  his  remarks  were  of  great  interest,  but  I  feel  in 
honor  bound  to  hold  them  as  confidential.  In  leaving  his 
room,  I  said,  after  expressing  my  gratification  for  his  cor- 


320  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

diality,  that,  were  it  not  for  the  impropriety  of  publishing  a 
private  interview,  it  would  afford  me  great  pleasure  and  my 
Southern  friends  great  satisfaction  if  I  could  tell  them  fully 
of  the  sentiments  expressed  by  so  distinguished  a  Northern 
statesman  in  favor  of  reform  at  the  South.  He  promptly  re 
plied,  "  If  that  is  your  opinion,  on  your  return  to  Charleston 
address  me  a  letter  on  the  subject  and  I  shall  be  happy  to 
reply  to  it."  I  wrote  Senator  Sumner  such  a  letter  as  he 
suggested,  but  it  reached  Washington  the  very  day  he  died. 

The  second  Taxpayers'  Convention  assembled  at  Columbia, 
February  17,  1874,  and  continued  in  session  three  days,  under 
the  Presidency  of  Hon.  W.  D.  Porter. 

After  deliberating  on  various  subjects  of  public  interest,  the 
Convention  adopted  an  Address  to  the  States,  recommending 
the  organization  of  Taxpayers'  Unions,  an  Address  to  the 
People  of  South  Carolina,  and  the  following  Resolution,  of 
which  I  was  the  author: 

"  Resolved,  That  a  Committee  of  fifteen  be  appointed  by  the 
Chair,  to  proceed  to  Washington  and  present  to  the  President 
the  '  Address  '  prepared,  on  behalf  of  the  people  of  this  State, 
to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and  request  him  to  lay  the 
same  before  Congress." 

On  presenting  this  resolution  to  the  Convention  I  de 
livered  an  address  upon  the  evils  of  carpet-bag  and  negro 
rule,  not  a  single  statement  of  which  was  ever  contro 
verted,  although  it  was  given  a  wide  publicity.  I  re 
peated  the  same  statements  in  substantially  the  same  form 
before  President  Grant  and  the  Joint  Committee  of  Congress 
appointed  to  investigate  the  matter.  My  visit  to  Washington 
is  described  in  a  letter  to  D.  J.  Curtis  of  Boston,  which  I  wrote 
on  my  return  to  Charleston: 

"  CHARLESTON,  S.  C.,  April  18,  1874. 
"  D.  J.  CURTIS,  Esq.,  Banker,  Boston,  Mass. 

(( My  Dear  Sir-' — I  have  read  with  very  great  pleasure  your 
thoughtful  and  sympathetic  letter,  and  have  taken  the  liberty 
of  letting  other  gentlemen  here  have  the  advantage  of  know- 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  321 

ing  how  educated  and  liberal  Massachusetts  now  feels  on  sub 
jects  so  grave  as  the  decadence  of  public  morals,  and  the 
capacity  of  representatives.  Your  remarks  are  strikingly  true 
as  to  the  undue  merit  accorded  to  Mr.  Sumner's  honesty, 
but,  in  a  picture  of  low  tone,  lights  are  agreeable  by  contrast 
even  if  the  objects  made  conspicuous  are  commonplace;  and 
I  assure  you  that  the  South  has  been  so  robbed  and  ill-treated 
that  common  honesty  and  the  smallest  sympathy  are  lights  in 
the  gloomy  picture.  And  thus  you  find  as  hard  a  Copperhead 
as  myself  uttering  paeans  to  Greeley  and  Sumner,  to  whom  a 
few  years  ago  I  was  inimical  in  the  highest  degree.  Such  is 
life  with  a  truce  to  consistency. 

"  Perhaps  I  may  bore  you  with  a  short  account  of  our  inter 
view  with  Grant.  I  will  remark  in  passing  that  our  delegation 
embraced  four  ex-governors,  several  ex-senators,  generals, 
bankers,  and  merchants  of  distinction,  all  men  of  liberal  edu 
cation,  except  myself,  and  of  high  social  position.  Members 
of  the  Society  of  the  Cincinnati  and  three  of  the  sons  or  grand 
sons  of  the  delegates  whom  the  Charleston  Chamber  of  Com 
merce  had  appointed  to  receive  Gen.  Washington  in  Charleston 
during  the  first  Presidency  were  among  the  number.  I  had 
prepared  my  address  referring  to  this,  as  an  implied  compli 
ment  to  the  present  President,  and  had  dug  out  of  obscurity 
the  only  sensible  state  paper  Grant  had  ever  produced.  The 
opposition  Committee  representing  the  carpet-baggers  and 
negroes  was  headed  by  Whittemore,  who  was  expelled  from 
Congress  for  selling  cadetships,  and  a  State  Senator  who  had 
just  been  arrested,  shut  up  in  the  police  lock-up  of  Washing 
ton,  and  fined  $50  for  participation  in  a  drunken  brawl.  One 
of  the  colored  Senators  on  this  Committee  had  been  tried  for 
ballot-box  stuffing  and  escaped  by  a  technicality,  his  coadju 
tors  having  been  convicted.  Indeed,  the  whole  body,  with  few 
exceptions,  was  more  or  less  tainted  with  frauds  or  misrule. 
Their  sole  plea  in  answer  to  my  speech  to  the  President  and 
the  Committee  of  Congress  was  one  of  mitigation,  alleging 
that  the  frauds  were  exaggerated  or  that  Southern  white  men 
had  refused  to  co-operate  with  them,  etc.,  etc.  In  other  words 


322   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

we  had  charged  them  with  stealing  twenty-five  spoons,  having 
caught  them  in  the  butler's  pantry  in  the  very  act.  They, 
however,  plead  that  we  are  liars,  as  they  stole  but  twenty 
spoons,  and  that  they  would  not  have  stolen  any  had  we  con 
sented  to  associate  with  them  in  the  kitchen.  This  argument 
seemed  to  be  cogent  in  the  estimation  of  the  President,  and, 
perhaps,  his  associations  confirm  the  philosophy. 

"  But  to  the  interview.  At  our  arrival  in  Washington, 
Governor  Aiken,  Gov.  Manning,  Gen.  Simons  and  myself, 
called  on  Secretary  Fish,  and,  after  a  pleasant  interview  and 
a  communication  with  the  President,  the  next  day  at  eleven 
o'clock  was  fixed  for  a  formal  introduction.  Gov.  Porter  and 
myself  were  appointed  to  address  the  President  after  the  in 
troduction  of  the  whole  Committee  by  the  Secretary  of  State. 
A  few  minutes  before  we  were  admitted  to  the  audience, 
a  carpet-bagger  from  Pennsylvania,  whose  election  to  the 
Senate  from  South  Carolina  was  one  of  the  outrages  com 
plained  of  by  me  and  who  had  been  arrested  upon  a  charge  of 
corruption  in  procuring  his  seat,  was  seen  to  leave  the  room 
where  he  had  read  to  the  President  the  speech  [an  inflamma 
tory  speech  by  Gen.  Gary  at  the  Taxpayers'  Convention]  you 
have  heard  of.  After  the  introduction  by  Mr.  Fish,  Mr. 
Porter,  in  a  most  respectful  manner  and  in  pathetic  language, 
set  forth  the  fraud  and  misrule  which  the  taxpayers  of  the 
State  invoked  Congress  to  redress,  and  appealed  to  the  Presi 
dent  to  use  his  influence  in  behalf  of  the  people  who,  in  their 
extremity,  as  American  citizens,  looked  to  him,  the  Executive 
of  our  country,  for  sympathy.  The  President,  standing  with 
one  foot  on  a  chair,  balancing  himself  and  occasionally  inter 
rupting  the  speaker  with  tart  reproaches,  finally  broke  out  in  a 
most  abusive  manner  and  turned  the  interview  into  a  personal 
grievance  of  his  own.  He  said  that  even  the  N.  Y.  Sun  had 
not  been  so  vile  in  its  personalities.  At  this  point  I  stepped 
forward  to  read  my  address,  desiring  to  avoid  the  danger  of 
my  own  temper  under  such  treatment  if  I  delivered  it  in  my 
usual  manner.  The  President  listened  a  few  moments  till  I 
got  to  that  part  which  charges  that  the  election  of  the  first 


REAL    RECONSTRUCTION  323 

carpet-bagger,  Gov.  Scott,  was  procured  by  the  use  of  $300,000 
of  the  money  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  when  he  replied  that 
if  I  knew  this  I  ought  to  testify  to  the  fact  before  the  Com 
mittee  now  investigating  the  charges  against  General  Howard 
on  that  topic.  I  replied,  '  I  do  not  make  the  charge.  I  have  the 
honor  of  reading  from  a  report  of  a  Congressional  Committee 
No.  121  of  the  42nd  Congress.'  After  replying  that  he  did  not 
believe  the  charge,  he  permitted  me  to  go  on  till  I  came  to 
other  charges  against  the  action  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
in  South  Carolina,  to  the  effect  that  the  agents  of  that  organ 
ization  were  sowing  dissension  between  the  races  by  advising 
the  negroes  to  look  for  a  division  of  their  late  masters'  prop 
erty.  He  then  stopped  me  again  with  some  dissenting  ques 
tion,  to  which  I  replied,  '  I  do  not  cite  these  facts  of  my  own 
knowledge,  but  I  have  the  honor,  Mr.  President,  of  reading 
to  you  your  admirable  report  to  President  Johnson  when  you 
were  Lieutenant-General.'  The  truth  was  that  he  was  so 
angry  that  he  had  not  heard  my  preface  to  the  report  I  was 
reading,  and  supposed  the  statements  of  his  own  report  were 
my  allegations.  After  other  interruptions,  to  which  I  answered 
courteously,  I  closed  my  address  and  the  delegation  retired. 
I  remained  behind  and  approaching  the  President  said,  '  Mr. 
President,  I  am  pained  and  mortified  by  this  unfortunate  inter 
view,  because  I  perceive  I  have  certainly  misrepresented  you, 
having  on  my  return  from  Washington,  after  my  pleasant  talk 
with  you  some  time  ago,  represented  you  as  in  full  sympathy 
with  the  non-partisan  effort  I  was  initiating  against  fraud  and 
misrule  in  South  Carolina.'  He  replied,  '  How  could  you 
hear  that  infamous  speech  in  your  Convention,  and  not  re 
buke  it  ?  '  I  remarked,  '  Mr.  President,  I  was  not  in  the  Con 
vention  when  that  speech  was  made.  I  had  retired  fatigued 
by  the  delivery  of  my  opening  speech  of  nearly  two  hours, 
but  I  can  assure  you  that  not  one  member  of  the  Convention 
who  heard  it,  had  any  sympathy  with  it.  On  the  contrary,  it 
was  wholly  against  the  object  of  the  Convention  and  the 
Resolutions  under  which  our  deliberations  were  held.  And 
such  was  the  temper  of  the  Convention,  that  the  report  was 


324  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

remanded  back  to  be  purged  of  everything,  personal  or  politi 
cal  ;  a  course  which  had  not  become  necessary  in  any  other 
case  during  our  sittings.'  He  then  asked  me  who  made  the 
speech.  For  the  moment  the  name  escaped  me,  and  he  sug 
gested  Wade  Hampton.  To  which  I  replied,  '  General  Hamp 
ton  was  not  a  member  of  the  Convention.'  And  then,  as  I  re 
called  Gen.  Gary's  name,  he  asked  me  who  he  was.  I  replied 
that  he  was  a  gallant  but  eccentric  man,  whose  record  for  brav 
ery  during  the  War  gave  him  a  degree  of  local  popularity  which 
put  him  into  the  Convention,  but  I  knew  that  the  Convention 
had  no  sympathy  with  his  speech.  Indeed,  so  little  attention 
had  it  received,  that  I  had  never  heard  it  mentioned  except 
the  day  it  was  made,  when  everyone  regretted  its  personal 
language,  and  it  would  never  have  seen  the  light  if  some  evil- 
disposed  person  had  not  published  it  to  defeat  the  object  of 
the  Convention.  Mr.  Fish  came  up  to  us  at  this  moment  and 
remarked  that  he  had  not  seen  it  before  either.  I  then  bowed 
myself  out.  Later  I  met  Gen.  Babcock  in  the  Club,  and  ex 
plained  the  matter  to  him.  He  remarked  that  the  President 
was  entirely  satisfied  with  my  explanation.  Mr.  Fish  subse 
quently  invited  a  few  of  us  to  a  very  elegant  dinner  party,  and 
I  am  sure  Mr.  Fish  was  more  disconcerted  by  the  President's 
bad  manners  than  we  were.  Speaker  Elaine  put  his  private 
room  at  our  disposal  during  our  entire  stay  at  the  Capital,  and 
the  Vice-Presidents  actual  and  pro-tern  and  all  the  leading 
Cabinet  officers  and  members  of  Congress  treated  us  with 
marked  attention.  Even  Butler  was  no  exception,  but,  of 
course,  I  could  not  bring  myself  to  call  on  him,  liberal  as  I 
am  on  such  occasions. 

u  Hoping  you  will  excuse  this  rambling  account  of  our  mis 
sion  to  Washington, 

"  I  am, 

"  Yours  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

In   spite   of  this   cavalier  treatment   of   our   delegation   by 
President  Grant,  our  efforts  finally  resulted  in  the  expulsion 


REAL   RECONSTRUCTION  325 

of  the  carpet-bag  thieves  from  South  Carolina,  and  the  ac 
quirement  by  the  citizens  of  their  Constitutional  rights.  This 
was  the  real  reconstruction;  the  so-called  reconstruction  of 
the  years  immediately  succeeding  the  War  having  been  in 
reality  more  destructive  than  constructive. 

My  visit  to  Washington  as  a  bearer  of  the  message  of  the 
Taxpayers'  Convention  occurred  in  the  early  spring.  The 
following  June  I  was  made  an  honorary  member  of  the  Alumni 
Association  of  Williams  College,  and  delivered  an  address  at 
the  Williams  Alumni  Banquet  on  "  State  Rights  as  Opposed  to 
State  Sovereignty."  The  Charleston  News  and  Courier  a  few 
days  later  published  an  editorial  comment  on  this  address 
which  I  quote  here  with  a  certain  satisfaction,  I  confess,  be 
cause  this  paper  had  been  extremely  bitter  in  its  attacks  upon 
me  at  the  beginning  of  the  War: 

"  Col.  Lathers  continues  to  be  both  industrious  and  zealous 
in  exposing  the  wrongs  of  the  honest  citizens  of  South  Caro 
lina.  Last  week  he  delivered  an  address  on  the  condition  of 
affairs  in  South  Carolina,  at  the  Williams  College  commence 
ment,  in  Williamstown,  Mass.,  and  was  immediately  thereafter 
elected  a  member  of  the  Alumni  Association  of  the  college, 
which  he  accepted,  he  said,  as  paid  to  his  native  State — South 
Carolina.  Thanks  to  his  efforts,  the  press  and  the  leading 
public  men  of  New  England  know  what  our  position  is  and 
what  is  the  cause  of  our  troubles.  They  are  in  sympathy  with 
us,  and  that  sympathy  will  be  shown  actively  in  due  season. 
Col.  Lathers  has  been  suggested,  by  influential  newspapers,  as 
a  proper  person  to  fill  either  of  two  seats  in  Congress ;  that  of 
Mr.  Porter  of  New  York,  or  that  of  Mr.  Dawes  of  Massa 
chusetts.  If  so  wise  a  nomination  be  made,  and  Col.  Lathers 
should  consent  to  run,  the  people  of  the  South,  and  especially 
the  people  of  South  Carolina,  may  count  on  having  in  him, 
when  elected,  a  staunch  defender  of  their  rights,  an  able  and 
indefatigable  exponent  of  their  wrongs,  and  a  consistent  cham 
pion  of  constitutional  principles  and  free  institutions." 


CHAPTER    XI 

BERKSHIRE    HOSPITALITY 

IN  July,  1874,  I  gave  up  my  Charleston  residence  in  favor  of 
my  country  place  at  Pittsfield,  to  which  I  have  already  made 
a  casual  reference. 

Seven  years  earlier,  in  passing  through  Pittsfield  en  route 
to  the  White  Mountains,  I  had  stopped  over  at  Arrowhead, 
a  summer  residence  of  my  brother-in-law,  Allan  Melville,  and 
had  been  so  struck  with  the  beauty  of  the  scenery  and  the 
salubrity  of  the  climate  that  I  had  purchased  nine  small  farms 
and  made  them  into  an  estate  which  I  called  Abby  Lodge, 
after  the  Christian  name  of  my  wife.  It  was  situated  close 
by  a  cottage  which  had  formerly  been  occupied  by  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes.  It  was  bounded  on  the  east  by  Washing 
ton  Mountain,  and  was  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by 
the  Housatonic  River.  Its  meadows  were  adorned  with  fine, 
spreading  elms  (the  glory  of  Berkshire),  and  its  hills  with 
orchards  and  maple  groves.  One  of  the  farmhouses,  which 
stood  on  a  hillside  above  the  Housatonic  Valley,  with  views 
including  both  the  mountains  of  New  York  and  those  of  Ver 
mont,  I  had  enlarged  into  a  sort  of  Italian  villa  by  adding 
several  wings ;  and  these  additions  made  it  appear  quite  im 
posing  to  a  person  viewing  it  from  the  railway  which  ran 
through  the  property  several  hundred  feet  away  and  a  hundred 
feet  lower  down. 

On  the  occasion  of  my  definite  removal  from  Charleston  to 
Pittsfield  the  Springfield  Republican  published  a  highly  com 
plimentary  article  which  I  quote,  not  for  the  compliments  it 
contains,  but  because  it  gives  a  better  description  of  Abby 
Lodge  than  I  could  give  myself: 

"  Pittsfield  is  fortunate  in  securing  as  a  permanent  resident 

326 


BERKSHIRE    HOSPITALITY  327 

Col.  Richard  Lathers,  who  is  making  his  picturesque  little 
residence  the  repository  of  more  valuable  curiosities  in  litera 
ture  and  art  than  can  often  be  found  in  a  private  house  in  this 
country.  Abby  Lodge,  two  miles  from  town  on  the  east  road 
to  Lenox,  stands  just  opposite  the  old  Melville  place,  on  the 
ground  once  occupied  by  J.  W.  Lull's  farm-house,  command 
ing  a  lovely  view  of  the  eastern  Housatonic  valley  and  the 
mountains  on  three  sides.  For  six  years  Col.  Lathers  has 
found  his  summer  home  here,  and,  each  season,  has  done  more 
or  less  work  on  the  hundreds  of  acres  which  his  various  pur 
chases  include,  such  as  underdraining,  cultivating,  grading  and 
terracing  about  the  house,  adding  to  and  improving  the  build 
ings,  until,  to-day,  the  residence  is  one  of  the  completes!  and 
most  beautiful  in  all  the  region.  A  spacious  open  porch, 
separating  the  new  music  room  from  the  main  part  of  the 
house,  adds  an  indescribable  charm  to  the  place,  while  another 
open-air  feature  of  the  house  is  the  way  in  which  the  sashes 
and  blinds  of  the  wide  eastern  windows  mysteriously  disap 
pear,  revealing  patches  of  lovely  mountain  view,  apparently  set 
in  neat  frames  and  matching  the  other  pictures  on  the  walls. 
These  landscapes  Mr.  Lathers  calls  his  original  '  old  masters  ' 
and  is  having  them  sketched.  Most  of  the  paintings,  engrav 
ings,  books  and  other  treasures  which  fill  the  house  have  been 
brought  from  the  other  summer  residence  in  New  Rochelle, 
N.  Y.,  which  has  been  given  up  for  Pittsfield,  and  now  another 
addition  is  building,  containing  a  gallery  to  receive  the  most 
valuable  of  the  Colonel's  paintings,  which  are  now  at  his  house 
in  Charleston,  S.  C.  They  will  be  brought  to  Pittsfield  in  the 
spring,  Mr.  Lathers  having  disposed  also  of  his  Southern 
home.  It  would  take  long  to  enumerate  half  the  rare  treasures 
which  the  genial  proprietor  of  this  pleasant  abode  has  gathered 
from  all  parts  of  the  world.  He  is  an  especial  lover  of  old 
engravings,  and,  among  other  rare  pieces,  has  one  of  Rey 
nolds'  portraits  of  Edmund  Burke,  the  only  other  copy  in  the 
country  having  been  in  the  collection  of  Charles  Sumner. 
Mr.  Lathers  visited  Mr.  Sumner  a  short  time  before  the  lat 
ter 's  death,  when  each  of  them  was  surprised  to  learn  that 


328  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  other  owned  a  copy  of  this  engraving.  Mr.  Sumner  prom 
ised  to  stop  at  Pittsfield  to  see  his  friend's  collections  when 
they  should  be  arranged,  but  died  too  soon  for  the  fulfillment 
of  the  promise.  Another  large  engraving,  100  years  old,  is 
that  of  the  golden  palace  of  Nero.  Then  there  are  piles  of 
huge  volumes  of  engravings  representing  all  the  principal 
pictures  of  the  different  public  and  private  galleries  of  Europe, 
as  well  as  engravings  and  photographs  of  all  the  important 
buildings  and  objects  of  interest  throughout  that  continent. 
Among  the  literary  treasures,  perhaps  the  rarest  is  a  copy 
of  the  book  of  Esther  on  a  roll  of  thick  leather,  written  in 
Hebrew,  600  years  ago,  before  the  time  of  printing  that  lan 
guage.  Other  curiosities  in  the  same  line  are  the  Breeches 
Bible,  printed  in  1599,  Raphael's  Bible  with  every  principal 
incident  pictured  by  that  artist,  and  a  copy  of  the  fourth  edi 
tion  of  Shakespeare.  In  a  corner  of  the  drawing  room  stands 
a  porcelain  table  made  at  the  Sevres  factory  for  Louis  Philippe, 
and  containing  the  pictures  of  Louis  XVI.  and  his  court  beau 
ties,  burnt  in.  This  was  sold  in  Paris  for  2,500  francs,  at  the 
time  of  the  disposal  of  Louis  Philippe's  effects.  In  addition 
to  these  and  a  thousand  other  rarities  which  fill  every  table  and 
shelf  and  meet  the  eye  at  every  turn,  Col.  Lathers  has  just 
put  in  the  elegant  new  music  room  an  orchestrion,  made  in 
the  '  Black  Forest '  region  of  Germany,  at  a  cost  of  $5,000. 
The  walls  of  the  music  room  are  hung  thick  with  choice  paint 
ings,  and  on  one  side  stands  a  French  cabinet  of  the  most 
exquisite  inlaid  work,  which  with  the  mirror  cost  $3,000." 

One  of  my  nearest  neighbors  at  Pittsfield  was  Herman  Mel 
ville,  author  of  the  interesting  and  very  original  sea  tales, 
''  Typee  "  and  "  Omoo  "  (which  were  among  the  first  books  to 
be  published  simultaneously  in  London  and  New  York),  and  of 
various  other  volumes  of  prose  and  verse.  I  visited  him  often 
in  his  well-stocked  library,  where  I  listened  with  intense  pleas 
ure  to  his  highly  individual  views  of  society  and  politics.  He 
always  provided  a  bountiful  supply  of  good  cider — the  product 
of  his  own  orchard — and  of  tobacco,  in  the  virtues  of  which 
he  was  a  firm  believer.  Indeed,  he  prided  himself  on  the  in- 


BERKSHIRE    HOSPITALITY  329 

scription  painted  over  his  capacious  fireplace.  "  I  and  my 
chimney  smoke  together,"  an  inscription  which  I  have  seen 
strikingly  verified  more  than  once  when  the  atmosphere  was 
heavy  and  the  wind  was  east. 

Being  about  halfway  between  Pittsfield  and  Lenox,  Abby 
Lodge  was  a  convenient  stopping  place  for  my  numerous 
friends  in  both  villages,  and  for  the  friends  of  my  friends ; 
and  was,  besides,  by  reason  of  its  easy  accessibility  and  won 
derful  views,  a  sort  of  show  place  for  strangers. 

I  was  standing  one  day  on  the  east  piazza  with  a  visitor, 
whom  I  will  not  name,  and,  vain  of  my  surroundings,  was 
pointing  out  the  various  objects  of  interest.  "  That,"  said  I, 
"  is  Monument  Mountain,  situated  in  the  State  of  New  York ; 
those  mountains  to  the  north  are  in  Vermont;  that  lovely 
group  twenty-five  miles  distant  is  called  Saddleback."  I 
paused  to  note  the  effect  of  my  words  upon  my  companion. 
But  he  was  looking  fixedly  down  upon  a  little  stream  at  the 
bottom  of  the  terrace  and  gave  no  sign  of  having  heard  any 
thing  I  had  said.  "  There,"  he  exclaimed,  his  eyes  sparkling, 
"  is  the  most  luxuriant  bed  of  mint  I  have  ever  seen."  And, 
indeed,  many  a  glass  of  delicious  mint  julep  for  which  that 
bed  furnished  the  mint  was  drunk  as  a  pledge  of  goodfellow- 
ship  on  the  broad  piazza  of  Abby  Lodge,  in  those  days,  by 
earnest,  double-dyed  Abolitionists  and  Dis- Union  slaveholders 
whom  the  War  had  taught  a  proper  toleration  for  one  another's 
weaknesses  and  a  proper  respect  for  one  another's  virtues. 

One  day  as  David  Dudley  Field,  his  brother,  Rev.  Dr. 
Henry  M.  Field,  and  his  daughter  and  son-in-law  (Lady  and 
Sir  Anthony  Musgrave)  were  taking  their  carriages,  after  a 
visit  at  Abby  Lodge,  an  old  farmer,  one  of  my  neighbors,  who 
chanced  to  be  calling  on  a  matter  of  business,  said,  with  typical 
rustic  bluntness,  "Is  that  Dudley  Field  in  that  carriage?" 
"Yes,"  I  answered;  "do  you  know  him?"  "Know  him?" 
said  the  farmer,  "  Well,  I  should  think  so.  He  and  I  have 
often  driven  the  cows  to  pasture  in  his  father's  fields  bare 
footed,  and  the  old  man  preached  to  us  Sundays." 

A  good  many  years  later,  while  I  was  in  Williamstown  with 


330  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Mr.  Field  for  an  Alumni  meeting,  he  invited  me  to  go  with 
him  to  the  students'  quarters.  He  ran  up  four  flights  of 
stairs  just  like  a  boy  and  knocking  at  one  of  the  doors  in 
formed  a  couple  of  young  students  that  he  had  called  to  see 
the  room  he  had  occupied  a  good  fifty  years  before.  It  was 
difficult  for  them  to  believe  that  the  youthful-looking  man 
before  them  was  a  graduate  of  over  half  a  century. 

But  to  return  to  Abby  Lodge.  Among  my  acquaintances  in 
Berkshire  who  were  frequent  visitors  at  my  house  were  Sena 
tor  Dawes,  Judge  and  Thomas  Colt,  Joseph  E.  A.  Smith, 
Allan  Melville,  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  Hon.  E.  H.  Kellogg,  Hon. 
Thomas  Allen,  Edward  Learned,  Judge  Rockwell,  John  Ker- 
nochan,  Gen.  Bartlett,  Col.  Robert  Pomeroy,  and  last  but  not 
least,  Mrs.  Morewood,  the  charming  and  cultivated  wife  of 
Mr.  J.  R.  Morewood  of  Broadhall,  who  established  a  kind  of 
salon  for  the  literary  residents  of  Berkshire  and  the  visiting 
authors.  Mrs.  Morewood's  patriotic  energy  in  fitting  out  the 
soldiers  who  volunteered  in  defense  of  the  Union,  and  in  other 
wise  caring  for  them,  so  endeared  her  to  every  officer  and 
private  that  she  was  buried  with  the  honors  of  war,  and  her 
tomb  in  the  cemetery  is  annually  decorated  at  the  same  time  as 
the  graves  of  the  soldiers  who  loved  her. 

Alas,  nearly  all  these  Berkshire  friends  are  now  dead,  as 
I  found  on  a  recent  visit  to  Pittsfield ! 

In  addition  to  the  almost  daily  assemblages  on  the  piazza, 
for  which  mint  julep,  tea  (if  there  were  ladies),  and  cigars 
were  all  the  entertainment  ordinarily  provided,  my  family 
was  in  the  habit  of  giving  dinner  parties  and  receptions  to 
their  friends  in  North  and  South  Adams,  Great  Barrington, 
Lenox,  Springfield,  Lee,  Stockbridge,  and  Williamstown. 

One  of  these  receptions,  given  in  honor  of  the  distinguished 
War-Governor,  Curtin  of  Pennsylvania,  and  Mrs.  Curtin, 
brought  about  an  amusing  incident.  On  the  day  appointed 
for  this  reception,  the  Court  at  Pittsfield  was  opened  in  due 
form  by  either  Judge  Devens  (subsequently  Attorney-general 
of  the  United  States)  or  Chief  Justice  Morton — I  cannot  now 
recall  which. 


BERKSHIRE    HOSPITALITY  331 

The  first  case  on  the  calendar  being  read  and  the  plaintiff's 
name  being  called,  his  counsel  rose  and  requested  his  Honor 
to  postpone  the  hearing  till  the  next  day  as  he  had  an  im 
portant  engagement  out  of  town.  The  second  case  was  called, 
but  the  plaintiff's  attorney  requested  a  postponement  because 
he  had  not  fully  conferred  with  his  client.  The  Judge  then 
called  up  the  third  case,  but  a  third  attorney  asked  a  post 
ponement.  This  appeared  to  exhaust  the  patience  of  his 
Honor,  who  stopped  the  proceedings,  saying,  "  Gentlemen,  this 
farce  has  gone  far  enough.  The  fact  is,  the  Court  and,  I  be 
lieve,  the  whole  Bar,  have  received  invitations  to  a  reception  at 
Abby  Lodge,  and  as  the  Court  feels  incompetent  to  administer 
justice  for  the  State  without  its  counselors,  the  Court,  there 
fore,  is  hereby  adjourned  till  the  usual  hour  to-morrow;  and, 
Mr.  Sheriff,  you  will  procure  two  or  three  carriages  for  us 
and  we  will  all  attend  this  rural  fete  and  enjoy  a  little 
recreation." 

This  is,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  only  instance  on  record  of  the 
adjournment  of  a  Court  for  the  sake  of  a  social  function. 

Among  the  guests  invited  to  this  fete  (most  of  whom  were 
present,  as  the  weather  was  fine),  were:  Edward  Learned, 
John  Kernochan,  Frank  Kernochan,  Editor  Samuel  Bowles, 
Col.  Thompson,  Hon.  Mr.  Chapin,  Editor  Harding,  Editor 
Allen,  Bishop  Paddock,  Bishop  Lynch  (Roman  Catholic)  of 
South  Carolina,  Rev.  Mr.  McGlathery,  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  Hon. 
David  Dudley  Field,  Hon.  Samuel  J.  Randall,  Lord  Musgrave 
(Governor  of  Jamaica),  Rev.  Dr.  Field,  Rev.  Dr.  Pinckney  of 
South  Carolina,  Hon.  Ensign  H.  Kellogg,  Allan  Melville, 
Wellington  Smith,  Hon.  Thomas  Allen,  Judge  Colt,  Thomas 
Colt,  Col.  Pomeroy,  Gen.  Bartlett,  Col.  Cutting,  Hon.  Byron 
Weston,  Frank  and  James  Hinsdale,  James  D.  Crane,  D. 
Marshall  Crane,  Judge  Rockwell,  Senator  Dawes,  Hon.  W. 
H.  Plunkett,  J.  Rowland  Morewood,  Col.  Auchmuty,  Editor 
Jos.  E.  A.  Smith,  Theodore  Pomeroy,  Rev.  Moses  D.  Hoge, 
D.  D.,  of  Richmond,  Va.,  W.  S.  Blackington,  and  Judge 
Robinson. 

During  my  residence  in  Berkshire  I  had  the  good  fortune 


332  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

to  become  intimate  with  Samuel  Bowles,  of  the  Springfield 
Republican.  Mr.  Bowles,  although  tolerant  of  the  weaknesses 
and  even  of  the  graver  defects  of  his  friends,  as  private  in 
dividuals,  never  hesitated  to  give  honestly  his  opinion  of  their 
public  acts;  and  his  friends  learned  to  take  in  good  part  his 
castigation  of  their  attempts,  as  politicians,  to  carry  water  on 
both  shoulders.  His  earnest  Republicanism  was  largely  modi 
fied  by  his  fine  discrimination;  and  his  editorials,  which 
abounded  in  practical  and  forcible  illustrations,  bore  a  striking 
resemblance  to  those  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  He  had  a  tender 
vein  in  his  make-up,  and  his  love  of  nature  and  of  poetry  was 
so  strong  as  almost  to  seem  incompatible  with  his  duties  as  a 
controversial  journalist.  I  recall  with  much  pleasure  the  many 
rambles  we  took  together  in  the  country  on  pleasant  Sunday 
mornings,  when  his  talk  was  always  in  perfect  harmony  with 
the  beauty  of  our  surroundings.  Mr.  Bowles,  Chester  W. 
Chapin  (the  Railway  King  of  New  England),  and  myself 
usually  contrived  to  be  at  Saratoga  at  the  same  time,  and  passed 
many  hours  together  there  discussing  politics,  finance,  and 
economics. 

Mr.  Bowles  was  a  reformer  of  the  highest  type — a  reformer 
and  not  a  revolutionist.  He  was  an  energetic  Union  man  dur 
ing  the  War,  but  after  the  War,  the  Union  having  been  saved, 
he  stoutly  defended  the  rights  of  the  South  against  the  policy 
of  his  own  party.  "  It  has  principles,"  he  wrote  of  his  journal ; 
"  but  they  are  above  mere  party  success,  and  to  these  prin 
ciples  it  will  devote  itself.  Whenever  and  wherever  the  suc 
cess  of  men  or  of  parties  can  advance  these  principles  and 
purposes  the  Republican  will  boldly  advocate  such  success. 
Whenever  men  and  parties  are  blind  to  the  triumph  of  these 
principles,  they  will  be  as  boldly  opposed  and  denounced." 

The  Republican  was  among  the  first  papers  to  take  the  field 
against  the  abuses  of  Grant's  Administration,  and  it  advocated 
the  election  of  Horace  Greeley,  although  Mr.  Bowies'  first 
choice  for  that  position  (and  for  any  and  every  high  office 
for  that  matter)  was  Charles  Francis  Adams,  for  whom  he  had 
a  great  and  just  admiration.  Mr.  Bowles  having  chaffed  me 


BERKSHIRE    HOSPITALITY  333 

one  day  for  giving  the  Buffalo  press  a  speech  for  publication 
in  advance  of  delivery  and  then  delivering  quite  another  for 
the  sake  of  complimenting  Ex-President  Fillmore,  I  retorted 
that  I  was  merely  loyal  to  my  friend,  Mr.  Fillmore,  as  he  was 
loyal  to  his  friend,  Mr.  Adams.  "  I  have  recently  read  in  a 
Western  paper,"  I  added,  "  a  remarkable  proof  of  this  loyalty 
of  yours  to  Mr.  Adams."  I  then  quoted  the  following:  "  Our 
brother  Bowles  is  a  hard-working  editor  and  his  Saturday  night 
duties  largely  deprive  him  of  his  proper  rest.  Consequently, 
he  not  infrequently  makes  up  for  his  lost  sleep  by  taking  a 
nap  in  church  on  Sunday.  On  one  such  occasion,  the  minister 
preached  a  sermon  on  the  Last  Judgment  in  which  he  presented 
the  terrors  of  the  Day  of  Doom  most  graphically,  closing  with 
this  vociferous  interrogation :  '  Who  will  be  able  to  stand  in 
that  great  day  ? J  This  appeal  aroused  the  sleeping  editor, 
who,  after  rubbing  his  eyes,  arose  with  great  deliberation  and 
in  a  most  emphatic  tone  replied :  '  Charles  Francis  Adams ! 
And  I  nominate  him  for  the  position ! ! ! ' : 

Mr.  Bowles  laughed  heartily  at  the  story,  but  said  that  he 
had  not  seen  it  in  any  of  his  exchanges. 


CHAPTER    XII 

AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS 

IN  October,  1875,  I  delivered  an  address  on  "  Agriculture  "  be 
fore  the  Deerfield  Agricultural  Society,  most  of  the  members  of 
which  were  intelligent  farmers.  I  called  attention  to  the 
venerableness  and  honorableness  of  farming,  made  an  appeal 
for  a  general  system  of  agricultural  instruction,  and  advocated 
smaller  farms,  intensive  cultivation,  and  the  use  of  artificial 
manures.  Although  some  of  my  hearers  took  exception  to  my 
advocacy  of  artificial  manures,  my  farming  talk  was  very  well 
received  on  the  whole,  because  it  was  evident  that  what  I  said 
was  based  on  my  own  experience  as  a  practical  farmer.  Dur 
ing  all  the  time  I  was  President  of  the  Great  Western,  I  had 
set  apart  one  day  each  week  as  u  a  day  in  the  country."  For 
a  great  many  years  I  had  sent  large  quantities  of  hay  from  my 
New  Rochelle  estate  into  the  New  York  Hay  Market,  on  Third 
Avenue  near  the  Bull's  Head  Tavern ;  and  for  nearly  a  de 
cade  I  had  worked  the  nine  farms  constituting  Abby  Lodge, 
selling  a  considerable  amount  of  hay,  rye,  straw,  cider,  and 
potatoes  in  Pittsfield  and  Lenox,  and  sending  a  carload  of  milk 
twice  a  week  to  New  York  City  from  my  dairy,  for  which  I  had 
imported  Alderney  cattle. 

In  1879  I  spoke  on  "  Journalism  and  Journalists  "  before 
the  editors  and  reporters  of  Berkshire  County.  This  talk  was 
necessarily  more  theoretical  than  my  talk  on  farming,  since 
I  did  not  have  a  fund  of  practical  experience  to  draw  upon. 
But  my  intimate  association  with  journalists  had  given  me  a 
pretty  fair  understanding  of  their  trade  and  of  their  point 
of  view. 

In  the  presidential  campaign  of  1876  I  spoke  frequently 
in  behalf  of  the  Tilden  and  Hendricks  ticket,  particularly  in 
the  Berkshire  district. 

334 


AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS  335 

I  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Tilden  a  number  of  years 
after  coming  to  New  York  from  the  South,  and  I  met  him 
often  during  a  long  period  at  political  gatherings  of  more  or 
less  importance,  in  which  he  was  generally  the  most  prominent 
figure  and  the  most  influential  adviser.  He  was  not  only  a 
shrewd  business  man  and  a  lawyer  of  great  ability,  but  a  lover 
of  literature  and  art,  a  classical  scholar,  and  a  student  of  science. 
His  fine  library  of  rare  and  standard  books  was  not  a  collec 
tion  got  together  merely  for  display.  That  he  made  good  use 
of  his  books  the  broad  range  and  high  character  of  his  speeches 
and  writings  afford  ample  proof. 

His  ornate  residence  was  located  within  a  block  of  that  of 
my  mother-in-law  at  No.  7  Bond  Street,  where  I  made  my  home 
on  the  frequent  occasions  when  I  was  detained  in  the  city  over 
night  by  social  or  political  engagements.  On  one  of  these  oc 
casions  Mr.  Tilden  accompanied  me  to  my  door,  as  it  lay  on 
his  way.  He  was  in  the  midst  of  one  of  his  most  attractive 
disquisitions  on  government  as  I  rang  the  bell,  but  he  declined 
to  go  into  the  house,  because  it  was  late,  and  continued  to  en 
large  upon  his  theme,  holding  my  hand,  a  habit  he  had  when  he 
was  talking  earnestly.  We  remained  there  nearly  half  an  hour 
exposed  to  a  cold,  bleak  wind,  which  caused  both  speaker  and 
listener  to  wake  up  with  a  severe  attack  of  influenza  the  next 
morning. 

One  summer,  at  Saratoga,  I  often  sat  with  Mr.  Tilden  at 
table  in  the  dining  room  of  the  United  States  Hotel.  This  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  the  newspaper  reporters,  who,  of  course, 
were  unwilling  to  believe  that  I  was  unable  to  give  them  any 
valuable  personal  information  about  Mr.  Tilden.  To  prove  to 
them  my  reticence  regarding  any  subject  that  could  be  of 
interest  to  them  as  journalists,  I  gave  them,  one  day,  an  exact 
reproduction  of  our  conversation. 

This  conversation  included  innumerable  details  as  to  the  value 
of  our  corn  crop,  various  observations  on  the  great  advantage 
it  would  be  to  our  country  if  we  could  induce  foreign  countries 
to  utilize  our  enormous  agricultural  production  in  feeding  their 
half-starving  populace,  and  last,  but  by  no  means  least,  a  re- 


336  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

ceipt  for  making  cornbread.  Of  course  the  gentlemen  of  the 
press  shut  up  their  notebooks  quite  disgusted,  and  left  me. 
Later,  a  couple  of  female  reporters  begged  me  to  introduce 
them  to  Mr.  Tilden,  for  whom  they  professed  great  admiration. 
To  this  I  readily  assented.  The  next  day  they  called  on  me 
to  say  that  my  friend,  instead  of  imparting  information  regard 
ing  public  affairs,  talked  only  of  social  abstractions,  and  kept 
the  hand  of  one  of  them,  to  her  great  annoyance,  during  the 
entire  interview.  I  comforted  this  lady  by  saying  that  this 
habit  of  Mr.  Tilden's  had  no  connection  with  gallantry,  since 
he  was  accustomed  to  keep  my  hand  in  the  same  manner  when 
engaged  in  earnest  conversation  with  me. 

I  recall  with  great  vividness  being  at  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Tilden  with  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  John  T.  Agnew  and  several  others 
when  a  telegram  was  received  from  Mr.  Hewitt,  then  at  Wash 
ington,  announcing  that  a  compromise  agreement  had  been 
made  to  submit  the  question  of  the  electoral  vote  to  an  ex-officio 
commission. 

Mr.  Tilden,  on  reading  the  telegram,  remarked  to  the  com 
pany  in  his  customary  non-committal  way,  "  I  have  not  been 
consulted  in  this  matter."  After  a  pause,  he  added,  "  I  do 
not  approve  of  this  unconstitutional  manner  of  disposing  of  the 
suffrages  of  the  people  of  this  country.  Yet  I  am  not  dis 
posed  to  hazard  the  peace  of  the  country  by  prolonging  this 
partisan  contest  in  my  own  interest  as  a  candidate." 

The  truth  is,  Mr.  Tilden  was  a  man  of  the  purest  character, 
and  a  most  disinterested  patriot.  It  is  well  known  that  some 
of  his  over-ardent  political  friends  began  a  serious  negotiation 
with  a  noted  carpet-bag  leader  of  South  Carolina  for  the  pur 
chase  of  a  portion  of  the  electoral  vote  of  that  State,  excusing 
themselves  by  saying  that  they  were  only  fighting  the  Devi! 
with  fire.  Mr.  Tilden  sternly  rebuked  the  negotiations  as  soon 
as  they  came  to  his  knowledge,  firmly  declining  to  countenance 
such  a  transaction  in  any  form  or  under  any  pretext;  and  the 
carpet-bagger  who  had  come  to  New  York  for  this  dishonorable 
purpose  went  back  to  South  Carolina  sadly  disappointed. 

Another  Presidential  candidate  in  this  strangely  complicated 


AGRICULTURE   AND    POLITICS  337 

political  campaign  of  1876  was  Peter  Cooper,  a  man  of  great 
force  of  character  and  of  many  talents,  who  will  be  longest 
remembered  for  his  wise  philanthropies.  I  chanced  to  be  call 
ing  on  him  one  day  soon  after  his  nomination  when  a  ward 
committee  paid  him  a  visit,  nominally  to  congratulate  him  but 
really  to  inform  him  that  funds  would  be  needed  in  their  ward. 
Mr.  Cooper  promptly  told  them  that  he  was  averse  to  con 
tributing  money  to  influence  voters,  but  that  he  had  had  a  large 
quantity  of  Greenback  arguments  printed  for  his  supporters  to 
distribute;  and  he  straightway  produced  a  pile  of  pamphlets 
with  which  he  filled  their  pockets.  I  remained  with  Mr.  Cooper 
a  few  moments  after  the  departure  of  the  ward  committee,  and 
when  I  went  out  I  found  his  pamphlets  strewn  broadcast  over 
the  sidewalks. 

I  recall  here  an  anecdote  which  Mr.  Cooper  loved  to  relate 
of  his  early  ventures  in  railroading  in  New  Jersey.  He  had 
constructed  a  locomotive  in  which  he  had  great  faith,  and 
wishing  to  get  it  before  the  public  he  invited  a  large  number 
of  persons  to  witness  its  speed.  To  this  meeting  came  an  old 
farmer  who  was  very  outspoken  in  his  criticisms  of  the  new 
fangled  machine,  and  who  offered  to  bet  ten  dollars  that  with 
his  old  mare  harnessed  into  his  buggy  he  would  reach  the  next 
village,  ten  miles  distant,  before  the  locomotive.  The  bet  was 
taken  up  and  the  race  began.  The  mare  was  soon  distanced 
by  the  locomotive,  but  at  the  end  of  the  first  mile  the  locomo 
tive  broke  down.  While  it  was  being  repaired,  the  mare  over 
took  and  passed  it.  The  locomotive  started  again,  and  again 
distanced  the  mare,  but  again  it  broke  down,  and  again  the 
mare  overtook  and  passed  it.  This  happened  so  many  times 
that  the  mare  won  the  race  by  nearly  a  mile,  to  the  great  joy  of 
the  old  farmer,  the  great  mortification  of  Mr.  Cooper,  and  the 
great  amusement  of  all  the  spectators. 

And  now  that  I  am  gossiping  about  political  candidates,  it 
would  seem  to  be  as  good  a  time  as  any  to  introduce  my  own 
solitary  political  venture. 

In  the  summer  of  1877  I  was  solicited  by  friends  in  both 
political  parties  to  permit  my  name  to  be  used  as  a  candidate 


338  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

for  the  State  Senate,  to  represent  the  counties  of  Rockland, 
Putnam,  Westchester,  and  the  two  lower  wards  of  the  City  of 
New  York.  While  I  was  flattered  naturally  by  this  request, 
I  refused  at  first  to  accede  to  it.  I  had  been  somewhat  active, 
it  is  true,  for  over  thirty  years  in  public  affairs  in  South  Caro 
lina,  Massachusetts,  and  New  York  (especially  in  Westchester 
County),  and  had  been  a  delegate  to  several  political  conven 
tions  ;  but,  having  a  repugnance  to  holding  office,  I  had  uni 
formly  declined  to  consider  any  of  the  candidacies,  local,  State, 
and  congressional,  regarding  which  I  had  been  approached  in 
both  the  South  and  the  North.  I  saw  no  reason  for  incurring 
the  expense  and  enduring  the  turmoil  of  a  political  canvass 
for  an  office  for  which  I  did  not  really  care.  I  realized  that 
my  fixed  ideas  of  public  policy  and  my  independence  of  the 
canal,  railroad,  and  other  corrupt  rings  of  the  State  would 
render  me  very  unpopular  with  a  large  element  in  both  parties. 
I  was  unwilling,  furthermore,  to  antagonize  my  friend  Judge 
Robertson,  who  had  filled  the  position  acceptably  for  many 
years. 

I  received  one  day,  however,  a  call  from  Judge  Robertson, 
who  saluted  me,  to  my  great  surprise,  as  his  successor  in  the 
Senate,  adding,  "  You  have  heard,  of  course,  that  I  have  posi 
tively  declined  to  serve  any  longer  in  that  body,  as  my  law  busi 
ness  will  need  my  whole  attention  in  the  future,  and  I  desire 
that  you  should  be  my  successor,  as  no  Republican  can  be 
elected  in  the  district  this  year."  This  downright  renunciation 
of  his  senatorship  by  the  Judge,  coupled  with  the  urgings  of 
my  friends,  which  were  persistent  and  persuasive,  finally  de 
cided  me  to  let  my  name  be  used,  and  I  was  nominated  unani 
mously  by  the  convention  assembled  in  Rockland  County. 

A  short  time  after  my  interview  with  Judge  Robertson  I  was 
seated  in  the  barroom  of  the  United  States  Hotel  at  Saratoga 
with  Lieutenant-Governor  Dorsheimer,  the  President  of  the 
Senate,  when  the  Judge  came  up,  and,  after  shaking  hands  with 
us  both,  said :  "  Dorsheimer,  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  my 
successor."  Mr.  Dorsheimer  immediately  replied :  "  Now, 
Judge,  that  is  one  of  your  jokes  at  the  expense  of  my  friend. 


AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS  339 

You  know  your  party  will  not  permit  you  to  retire."  The 
Judge  then  became  serious  and  said :  "  No  party  can  make  me 
do  a  dishonorable  thing.  I  even  induced  Col.  Lathers,  I  think, 
to  consent  to  a  nomination.  I  wanted  him  to  succeed  me  in  the 
Senate,  as  no  Republican  could,  at  this  time,  be  elected,  and  I 
am  certain  he  would  not  have  permitted  himself  to  be  nomi 
nated  if  I  had  not  informed  him  that  I  had  declined  and  desired 
his  success." 

It  is  due  to  Judge  Robertson  to  say  that  I  believe  that  this 
declaration  was  made  by  him  in  perfect  good  faith.  But  the 
Republican  nominating  convention,  after  several  futile  attempts 
to  select  a  candidate,  adjourned  and  appointed  a  committee  who 
waited  on  him  and  insisted  on  his  "  saving  the  party  "  from  a 
defeat  which  might  make  the  State  Senate  (which  would  par 
ticipate  in  the  election  of  a  U.  S.  Senator)  Democratic;  he 
finally  consented  to  run.  We  conducted  the  campaign  in  the 
most  friendly  manner,  and  we  always  remained  friends.  In 
the  course  of  the  campaign  I  received  letters  of  congratulation 
and  encouragement  from  many  quarters.  The  three  following, 
in  particular,  gave  me  real  pleasure  as  coming  from  persons 
for  whom  I  entertained  the  highest  respect : 

"  IRVINGTON-ON-THE-HUDSON,    Oct.    IQth,    1877. 

"  MY  DEAR  MR.  LATHERS  : 

"  I  notice  with  pleasure  that  you  have  accepted  the  nomina 
tion  for  the  Senatorship  in  our  district.  Your  long  residence 
in  Westchester  has  enabled  you  to  become  particularly  familiar 
with  the  wants  of  our  county,  and  your  oft-expressed  views 
on  the  great  requirement  of  the  day,  rapid  transit,  makes  it  a 
matter  of  the  first  importance  to  the  residents  of  Westchester 
that  you  be  elected.  The  friendly  relations  that  have  existed 
between  us  for  so  many  years,  render  it  impossible  for  me  to 
allow  the  present  opportunity  to  pass  without  expressing  my 
sincere  wishes  for  your  success. 

"  I  remain,  my  dear  Mr.  Lathers, 

"  Very  truly  your  friend, 

"  CYRUS  W.  FIELD." 


340  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  NEW  YORK,  Oct.  29,  1877. 
"  HON  RICHARD  LATHERS  : 

"My  Dear  Sir: — I  learn  with  much  gratification  that  you 
have  consented  to  be  a  candidate  for  the  Senate  in  your  district. 
It  is  an  encouragement  to  good  men  everywhere  when  a  gentle 
man  of  your  eminence  in  business  and  your  general  capacity 
agrees  to  undertake  a  share  of  the  burden  of  carrying  on  gov 
ernment  and  brings  to  the  work  such  high  qualifications.  I 
sincerely  hope  that  you  will  be  triumphantly  elected. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  SAMUEL  J.  TILDEN." 

ff  UTICA,  Oct.  27,  1877. 
"  HON.  RICHARD  LATHERS  : 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  am  surprised  to  learn  that  attacks  have  been 
made  upon  you  with  regard  to  your  course  during  the  War 
with  the  South.  Certainly  no  man  had  more  to  brave  and  en 
dure  than  you  had.  If  the  men  of  the  South  had  heeded  your 
words  they  and  our  country  would  have  been  saved  from  the 
terrible  evils  which  have  afflicted  them.  When  the  War  was 
over,  your  personal  knowledge  of  Southern  men  enabled  you 
to  give  them  advice,  which  they  now  see  they  ought  to  have 
taken.  I  know  of  no  one  who  has  stronger  claims  upon  our 
people  than  you  have,  for  your  efforts  to  avert  war,  to  uphold 
the  Union  when  it  came,  and  to  restore  good  will  between  the 
States  when  the  War  was  ended.  I  congratulate  you  that  your 
character  is  so  good  with  your  neighbors  that  your  assailants 
are  forced  to  get  up  charges  so  remote  as  to  time  and  place. 
It  shows  that  they  must  go  a  great  way  back  and  a  great  way 
off  to  invent  something  which  will  not  be  untrue  upon  its  face. 

"I  am 

"  Truly  Yours,  &c., 

"  HORATIO  SEYMOUR/' 

The  felicitations  of  the  political  workers  who  had  been  the 
most  active  in  opposing  my  nomination  were  among  the  first 
to  arrive.  This  circumstance  reminded  me  forcibly  of  the 


AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS  341 

slogan  of  the  "  bummers  "  of  the  Civil  War  period — "  The  old 
flag  and  an  appropriation !  " — for  these  felicitations  were  almost 
invariably  accompanied  by  a  polite  request  for  a  liberal  contri 
bution  to  the  election  funds  of  Tammany  and  of  each  of  the 
Democratic  county  associations.  As  nearly  as  I  can  recall,  each 
county  association  expected  $1,000,  and  Tammany  (as  repre 
senting  that  part  of  the  Senatorial  district  embraced  within  the 
city  limits)  $800.  Each  town  organization,  also,  put  forward 
claims,  and  the  individual  solicitors  and  workers  at  the  polls 
had  to  be  liberally  provided  for.  Besides,  the  prominent  lager 
beer  saloons  were  not  to  be  overlooked.  Clubs  were  formed,  of 
course,  some  of  which  honored  the  candidate  by  appropriating 
his  name  and  displaying  it  prominently  on  lanterns  and  ban 
ners  ;  and  common  courtesy  demanded  that  these  clubs  should 
be  remembered  in  a  substantial  manner.  Many  hundreds  of 
dollars  had  to  be  devoted  to  printing  the  candidate's  name  in 
big  letters  on  big  banners  to  be  hung  out  of  Democratic  win 
dows,  and  for  placards  to  be  posted  on  fences  and  vacant 
houses.  Mrs.  Lathers  was  the  recipient  of  many  letters  ad 
dressed  to  her  as  "  the  pious  wife  of  a  patriotic  candidate/' 
from  persons  who  announced  their  intention  of  giving  their 
own  support  and  that  of  their  friends  to  her  husband,  and  who 
casually  called  her  attention  to  the  fact  that  their  church  needed 
a  new  carpet  and  a  new  organ  and  that  their  church  roof  and 
steeple  were  sadly  in  want  of  repairs. 

One  night  during  the  campaign  a  late  competitor  for  the 
nomination,  waxing  confidential  under  several  glasses  of  good 
whisky,  said :  "  Do  you  know,  Colonel,  I  am  now  glad  I  did 
not  get  the  nomination?  My  friends  agreed  to  lend  me  $2,500 
towards  the  campaign  expenses,  but  I  might  have  been  beaten 
by  the  Judge,  and  in  that  case,  not  having  the  advantage  of  the 
senatorial  patronage,  I  would  have  been  unable  to  repay  the 
loan." 

The  truth  is,  many  unsuccessful  candidates  for  office,  as  well 
as  our  public  officials,  have  been  obliged  to  contract  in  their 
campaigning  heavy  obligations  which  have  crippled  them  for 
years. 


342   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  nominating  convention  I  de 
livered  an  anniversary  address  before  some  two  thousand  mem 
bers  of  an  agricultural  society.  While  I  was  dining  with  its 
President  immediately  afterwards,  he  said  to  me :  "  Your 
speech  was  greatly  enjoyed  because  it  dealt  so  practically  with 
the  details  of  farming,  and  also  because  of  its  entire  freedom 
from  politics.  We  were  all  agreeably  surprised,  because  it  is 
very  rare  that  the  speeches  on  these  occasions  are  not  devoted  to 
politics."  He  then  said  that  he  proposed  to  support  me  at  the 
nominating  convention  and  bring  many  of  his  friends,  and 
intimated  that  it  might  be  well  to  make  some  provision  for  car 
riages,  since  many  of  my  supporters  lived  too  far  away  from 
\he  county  town  to  walk  thither.  When  I  asked  him  what  the 
expense  would  be  he  replied :  "  About  fifty  dollars."  I  imme 
diately  handed  him  a  hundred,  remarking  that  I  wanted  it  un 
derstood  by  this  promptness,  at  which  he  appeared  rather  sur 
prised,  that  I  did  not  permit  anyone  to  contract  political  debts 
for  me;  notwithstanding  this  caution,  my  rural  friend  soon 
after  the  nomination  informed  me  that  he  had  a  balance  against 
me  of  six  hundred  dollars  for  the  transportation  and  refresh 
ment  of  my  friends  and  supporters,  explaining  that  it  was  nec 
essary  "  to  give  the  boys  a  good  time."  Of  course,  the  money 
had  to  be  paid,  \vith  many  thanks  for  the  thoughtfulness  of  so 
zealous  a  supporter. 

I  was  much  criticised  by  the  practical  politicians  (especially 
those  who  were  the  minions  of  certain  of  the  disappointed 
candidates  for  the  nomination)  because  I  did  not  carry  on  th? 
campaign  with  sufficient  energy — energy  being  synonymous 
in  their  minds  with  visiting  all  the  saloons  and  drinking  there 
with  the  roughs.  The  following  editorial,  headed  "  Anti-Tam 
many  against  Tammany,"  from  a  prominent  rural  Democratic 
organ,  voices  this  complaint : 

"  Richard  Lathers,  the  Democratic  nominee  for  State  Sena 
tor,  has  been  waiting  for  two  weeks  for  something;  he  has 
found  it  (the  nomination  of  Judge  Robertson),  and  will  per 
haps  go  to  work.  It  seems  he  is  one  of  those  who  expects 


AGRICULTURE   AND    POLITICS  343 

everybody  to  work  for  him,  while  he  luxuriates  at  his  ease 
in  the  Manhattan  Club  with  the  nomination  in  his  pocket.  As 
a  candidate  for  office  Richard  Lathers  is  an  abortion,  as  he 
is  a  dead  weight  to  his  party  by  reason  of  his  imbecility  in 
political  management.  This  being  the  fact  we  cannot  find 
fault  with  the  action  of  the  so-called  Anti-Tammany  organiza 
tion  for  the  twenty-third  and  twenty-fourth  wards  in  taking 
a  stand  in  favor  of  endorsing  the  nomination  of  the  Hon. 
William  H.  Robertson  for  State  Senator.  .  .  .  Democrats 
give  up  the  fight  in  this  Senatorial  district  because  they  find 
themselves  overloaded  with  a  candidate  who  will  not  make  a 
practical  canvass.  He  appears  to  think  being  a  candidate  is 
sufficient,  and,  if  he  is  satisfied,  we  must  be ;  as  we  cannot 
change  the  situation.  For  these  reasons  we  cannot  object  to 
the  Anti-Tammany  Democratic  Organization  of  the  twenty- 
third  and  twenty-fourth  wards  coming  to  the  front  in  favor  of 
an  Anti-Tammany  nomination  for  State  Senator." 

A  nervous  person  should  not  run  for  office.  The  abuse  of 
the  opposition  papers  in  a  political  campaign  should  be  dis 
regarded.  Still,  there  is  a  limit  to  endurance ;  the  last  pound, 
as  the  saying  goes,  breaks  the  camel's  back.  Not  content  with 
assailing  my  loyalty  during  the  War,  and  with  asserting  that 
I  flew  the  Rebel  Palmetto  flag  from  my  tower  at  Winyah  Park 
once  a  week  (said  Palmetto  flag  being  in  reality  a  dainty  piece 
of  white  silk  bearing  an  embroidered  anchor  which  the  young 
ladies  of  the  Bolton  Priory  raised  when  they  were  picknicking 
in  the  park)  the  New  York  Times  charged  me  with  being  a 
rowdy,  a  common  bruiser  of  New  Rochelle,  well  known  to  the 
police  of  New  York,  in  contradistinction  to  Judge  Robertson, 
who  was  a  moral  and  pious  deacon  of  the  church  at  White 
Plains. 

Being  on  the  best  of  terms  with  the  proprietor  of  the  Times, 
Mr.  Jones,  with  whom  I  had  but  recently  traveled  in  Europe, 
I  called  on  him  and  expostulated  against  the  scurrility  of  this 
last  attack,  to  which  my  wife  and  family  were  extremely  sensi 
tive,  although  undisturbed  by  legitimate  political  comments. 


344  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Mr.  Jones  at  once  seized  me  by  the  hand,  and  with  great 
fervor  assured  me  of  his  friendship,  explaining  that  he  had  not 
observed  the  article  referred  to.  He  took  me  into  the  sub 
editor's  room,  and  warned  several  of  the  staff  there  against 
this  and  all  other  such  attacks  on  moral  character.  The  next 
week  the  abusive  articles  continued  in  the  same  strain,  though 
their  form  was  a  little  more  guarded.  Years  after,  I  met  at 
the  Arlington  Hotel,  Washington,  a  very  attractive  man,  who, 
being  a  correspondent  of  several  journals,  wrote  till  late  into 
the  night  and  took  breakfast  while  I  was  lunching.  One  morn 
ing,  as  I  took  my  seat  at  the  table,  he  was  in  such  earnest 
conversation  with  a  friend  that  he  paid  no  attention  to  my 
arrival.  They  were  talking  of  the  New  York  gubernatorial 
nomination.  One  of  the  two  said,  u  Why  not  nominate  Robert 
son  of  Westchester ?  "  "  Oh,"  said  the  other,  "he  is  not 
strong  enough.  Lathers  really  defeated  him  for  the  Senate, 
but  we  counted  him  out  with  the  assistance  of  Fairchild,  the 
Democratic  Attorney-general,  whom  we  captured."  At  this 
point  I  interrupted  them  by  saying,  "  Gentlemen,  I  don't  want 
to  be  an  eavesdropper,  I  am  Lathers."  My  journalist  ac 
quaintance  jumped  right  up  with  glee,  and  said,  "  Are  you  the 
Dick  Lathers  I  was  directed  to  abuse  twice  a  week  for  a  month 
during  Judge  Robertson's  canvass?  How  well  I  recall  the 
mock  indignation  of  Editor  Jones  as  he  ordered  in  your 
presence  the  attacks  to  be  discontinued !  "  We  drank  a  glass 
of  champagne  together,  and  in  bidding  them  good-by,  I  said, 
"  I  hope  you  will  advocate  the  nomination  of  my  friend,  Judge 
Robertson.  We  have  never  had  the  least  enstrangement.  I 
would  prefer  him  for  Governor  of  our  State,  unless  we  can 
have  a  Democrat." 

The  counting  out  above  referred  to  was  not  a  myth.  I  was 
not  only  elected,  but  received  my  credentials  by  the  unanimous 
decision  of  the  inspectors  of  the  three  counties  and  this  en 
titled  me  to  a  seat  in  the  Senate.  The  adverse  opinion  of  the 
Attorney-general,  who  had  virtually  manufactured  law,  could 
not  prevent  me  from  taking  my  seat.  But  Judge  Parker  and 
other  friends  advised  me  not  to  run  the  risk  of  being  ultimately 


AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS  345 

unseated  by  a  partisan  vote  during  the  session  and  I  took  their 
advice.  This  was  a  mistake  on  my  part,  as  was  proved  by  the 
failure  of  the  House  of  Representatives  to  unseat  Mr.  Purdy 
of  the  First  District  of  Westchester  County,  the  validity  of 
whose  election  had  likewise  been  denied  at  the  same  time  and 
for  the  same  reason  by  the  Attorney-general. 

It  is  a  curious  coincidence  that  the  law  which  the  Attorney- 
general  declared  unconstitutional  in  order  to  further  his  own 
ends  had  been  passed  at  the  suggestion  of  Senator  Robertson, 
who  naturally  could  not  foresee  that  it  would  one  day  be 
invoked  against  himself. 

During  the  years  1878  to  1882  I  devoted  considerable  at 
tention  to  an  attempt  (unsuccessful  as  the  event  proved)  to 
secure  for  the  marine  underwriters  their  just  dues  under  the 
Geneva  Award,  and  I  prepared  and  circulated  with  that  end 
in  view,  a  pamphlet  treating  of  the  subject.  As  far  back  as 
1868,  while  I  was  still  President  of  the  Great  Western,  I  had 
begun  to  take  an  active  interest  in  the  settlement  of  the  Ala 
bama  claims.  Dining  one  day,  in  that  year,  with  Sir  Edward 
Thornton,  the  British  Minister,  who  expressed  some  appre 
hension  that  the  Alabama  matter  might  lead  to  a  dangerous 
controversy  between  Great  Britain  and  the  United  States,  I 
remarked  that  it  seemed  to  me  that  if  Her  Majesty's  Gov 
ernment  would  permit  the  American  underwriters,  who  had 
suffered  loss  by  the  Confederate  cruisers,  to  negotiate  directly 
with  the  British  authorities,  as  underwriters  had  hitherto  been 
permitted  to  do,  there  would  be  but  little  left  to  be  settled  as 
an  international  question.  Sir  Edward  at  once  replied  that 
the  proposition  seemed  feasible,  and  that  he  would  write  to 
London  on  the  subject. 

Being  in  Washington  again  a  few  weeks  later,  I  was  in 
formed  by  Sir  Edward  that  the  British  Government  was  dis 
posed  to  entertain  the  proposition  if  the  underwriters  could 
obtain  the  consent  of  the  American  Government. 

I  called  at  once  on  President  Grant,  and  related  the  whole 
conversation  to  him.  The  President  replied  that  whatever 
might  have  been  the  practice  between  underwriters  and  for- 


346  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

eign  powers  in  times  of  peace,  it  could  not  be  followed  in  a 
case  like  this  one,  and  he  further  pointed  out  that  there  existed 
a  special  statute  forbidding,  under  severe  penalties,  any  at 
tempt  of  a  citizen  to  negotiate  personally  with  a  foreign  power 
while  the  Government  was  engaged  in  a  negotiation. 

But  my  suggestion  was  not  without  its  influence  upon  the 
final  result,  which  was  the  award  of  $15,000,000  to  the  United 
States  in  consideration  of  the  private  claims ;  the  claims  of 
damages  by  the  United  States  Government,  as  such,  being 
denied  by  the  Court. 

While  the  discussion  of  the  manner  in  which  the  distribution 
of  the  funds  of  the  Geneva  Award  should  be  made  was  in 
progress,  I  had  an  encounter  with  Gen.  Butler  before  the 
Judiciary  Committee  of  Congress.  It  is  well  known  that  Gen. 
Butler  (as  well  as  several  other  New  England  members  of 
Congress)  and  some  of  his  constituents  were  interested  finan 
cially  in  the  result,  and  he  opposed  most  aggressively  every 
effort  to  have  the  matter  referred  to  the  Court  of  Government 
Claims.  In  this  opposition  he  used  his  favorite  weapons  of 
annoyance  and  abuse  very  freely,  so  freely,  in  fact,  that  Mr. 
Evarts  refused  to  appear  before  the  Committee. 

But  I  was  so  confident  of  the  justice  of  the  underwriters' 
claim,  and  so  certain  of  the  corrupt  methods  being  used  by 
those  opposing  it,  that  I  determined  to  confront  the  General 
and  his  impertinence,  and  "  to  fight  the  Devil  with  fire,"  as 
the  saying  goes. 

Butler  requested  the  Committee  to  refuse  to  hear  me  unless 
he  were  present,  a  proceeding  which  proclaimed  him  not  a 
simple  member  of  a  legislative  committee,  but  a  paid  attorney 
of  the  opponents  of  the  underwriters.  This  courtesy  on  the 
part  of  the  Committee  delayed  the  hearing  several  days,  as 
the  General  did  not  choose  to  attend  their  meetings.  When, 
at  last,  I  was  permitted  to  appear  before  the  Committee,  I 
was  informed  that  I  could  have  but  twenty  minutes  in  which 
to  address  them,  and  this  limited  time  was  encroached  upon 
by  constant  interruptions  and  questions  from  Butler.  Look 
ing  earnestly  at  the  Chairman,  therefore,  I  said,  "  Mr.  Chair- 


AGRICULTURE   AND    POLITICS  347 

man,  we  all  know  that  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  is 
a  modest  and  thoughtful  man,  who  hesitates  to  interrupt  a 
timid  speaker  before  so  august  a  body  as  this.  May  I  ask 
the  indulgence  of  the  Chair  to  have  my  seat  removed  nearer 
the  General  so  that  he  can  just  touch  me  on  the  elbow  and 
I  will  stop  till  he  is  heard."  This  evoked  uproarious  laughter 
at  Butler's  expense.  I  continued,  "  Mr.  Chairman,  I  am  in 
tensely  in  earnest  in  this  request."  The  Chairman  replied, 
"  Perhaps  the  member  to  the  right  of  General  Butler  will  ex 
change  seats  with  the  speaker,"  with  which  suggestion  said 
gentleman  was  kind  enough  to  concur.  Then,  gathering  up 
my  notes  and  papers  with  the  greatest  deliberation,  I  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  good  humor  of  the  Committee,  whose  sympathy 
I  seemed  to  have  won,  by  asking  that,  owing  to  the  interrup 
tions  made  by  the  member,  I  might  have  my  time  extended. 
It  was  moved,  in  the  midst  of  great  hilarity,  that  my  time  should 
be  extended  one  hour. 

General  Butler's  next  interruption  was  a  request  that  I  de 
scribe  the  process  of  the  importation  of  a  cargo  of  hemp  from 
Calcutta.  To  this  I  replied  that  the  member  was  fully  in 
formed  as  to  the  use  of  hemp  for  the  Rebels,  but  did  not 
understand  the  mode  of  its  importation  and  its  relations  to 
insurance  as  well  as  I.  I  expounded  at  some  length  the  bear 
ing  of  such  insurance  on  the  question  at  issue,  and,  touching 
the  General  on  the  elbow,  inquired  whether  my  statement  was 
convincing.  He,  with  some  temper,  retorted,  "  I  don't  want 
you  to  touch  me  in  that  way."  I  explained  that  I  was  a  plain 
man  and  that  this  was  my  manner  of  accentuating  my  replies, 
but  that  if  this  gesture  was'  disagreeable  to  the  member  I 
would  refrain.  The  General  also  objected  to  my  frequent 
references  to  his  military  record.  I  contended  that  such  refer 
ences  were  quite  in  harmony  with  the  hazards  of  insurance, 
and  that  it  was  evident  from  the  favor  with  which  the  Com 
mittee  received  them  that  it  so  regarded  them.  In  short,  the 
General,  perceiving  that  my  auditors  were  sympathetic,  ceased 
to  annoy  me,  and  I  was  able  to  convince  the  Committee  that 
the  underwriters  were  entitled  to  have  their  claims  referred 


348  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

by  Congress  to  the  Court  of  Claims.  The  Committee  reported 
accordingly,  but,  for  reasons  which  may  not  be  gone  into  here, 
they  were  never  allowed  to  be  presented  to  that  Court. 

General  Butler  was  brave  and  energetic,  but  so  thoroughly 
unscrupulous  that  he  was  unable  to  retain  the  confidence  of 
any  political  party.  He  was  unable  to  get  himself  re-elected 
Governor  of  Massachusetts,  even  with  his  o\vn  Party  in 
power.  As  a  lawyer,  he  was  employed  only  in  cases  where 
assurance  was  the  one  thing  needful.  Indeed,  there  was  much 
objection  to  his  being  invited,  in  accordance  with  time-honored 
usage,  to  attend  as  Governor  of  the  State  the  Annual  Com 
mencement  at  Williams  College.  On  that  occasion,  as  an  hon 
orary  member  of  the  Alumni,  I  occupied  a  seat  on  the  platform 
with  him.  With  his  customary  impudence,  he  devoted  his 
address  mainly  to  urging  the  graduates,  most  of  whom  were 
dissenters,  to  attach  themselves  to  the  true  and  ancient  Epis 
copal  Church,  with  which  he  had  finally  connected  himself, 
after  having  passed  through  most  of  the  denominations  of 
dissent. 

The  close  of  the  year  1879  brought  me  the  sad  news  of  the 
death  of  one  of  my  dearest  Southern  friends,  Henry  Gourdin. 

Henry  Gourdin  was  a  successful  merchant  and  a  typical 
Carolina  gentleman.  After  the  Civil  War  he  became  one  of 
the  most  energetic  promoters  of  reconciliation  between  the 
estranged  sections.  Then,  as  before  the  War,  every  visitor  to 
Charleston  of  any  note  was  a  recipient  of  the  generous  hos 
pitality  of  Henry  Gourdin  and  his  brother  Robert  in  their 
beautiful  bachelor  home  on  the  South  Battery,  which  pos 
sessed  the  best-stocked  wine  cellar  in  the  State.  I  recall  with 
much  pleasure  the  frequent  dinner  parties  given  by  them  not 
only  to  prominent  Southerners,  but  to  celebrities  from  the 
North  and  from  Europe,  occasions  at  which  good-fellowship 
reigned  supreme  and  into  which  no  sectional,  political,  or  re 
ligious  prejudice  was  allowed  to  intrude.  Here  I  met  on  the 
very  eve  of  the  Civil  War,  Gen.  Robert  Anderson,  the  hero 
of  Fort  Sumter,  and  Gen.  Beauregard,  who  conducted  the 
attack  upon  the  Fort. 


AGRICULTURE    AND    POLITICS  349 

It  makes  me  inexpressibly  sad  to  think  that  the  scores  of 
statesmen,  clergymen,  military  men,  and  merchants  who  gave 
character  to  Charleston  have  nearly  all,  like  these  two  bachelor 
brothers,  passed  away ;  and  a  long  interval  must  elapse,  I 
greatly  fear,  before  their  places  will  be  filled. 

I  believe  in  young  men ;  and,  if  the  rising  young  Charles- 
tonians  are  encouraged,  they  may  in  time  become  the  worthy 
successors  of  the  Gourdins  and  of  the  galaxy  of  public-spirited 
men  who  co-operated  with  them  in  developing  the  city — George 
Trenholm,  Samuel  Y.  Tupper,  Henry  Connor,  Robert  B.  Rhett, 
Richard  Yeadon,  W.  A.  Courtney,  George  F.  Bryan,  James  L. 
Petigru,  D.  L.  McKay,  A.  G.  Rose,  Alexander  Robinson, 
James  Adger,  Theodore  Wagner,  George  W.  Williams,  Al 
fred  Huger  and  C.  T.  Loundes.  It  is  depressing,  however, 
to  witness  the  inertness  of  mercantile  life  in  the  Charleston 
of  to-day ;  the  more  depressing  that  it  cannot  be  entirely  at 
tributed  to  the  War,  from  which  Savannah,  although  pos 
sessed  of  inferior  natural  advantages  and  less  capital,  has 
splendidly  recovered.  Unfortunately,  the  wealth  of  Charleston 
is  invested  elsewhere,  and  it  is  upon  the  capitalists  of  Balti 
more  and  other  cities  that  Charlestonians  seem  to  depend  for 
local  improvements.  For  the  sake  of  the  future  of  the  city, 
it  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  young  Charleston  financiers  and 
merchants  will  soon  call  home  the  capital  now  invested  else 
where,  and  that  they  will  follow  the  lead  of  Henry  Gourdin 
in  endeavoring  to  develop  one  of  the  best  harbors  on  the 
Atlantic  coast  and  in  re-establishing  direct  commercial  con 
nection  with  the  West. 

I  love  to  recall  old  Charleston  with  its  wharves  crowded 
\vith  vessels  flying  the  flags  of  all  the  countries  of  the  world ; 
its  huge  stone  and  brick  warehouses  filled  with  foreign  mer 
chandise  imported  for  distribution  over  the  Western  States ; 
and  its  bales  of  cotton  and  casks  of  rice  and  Western  and 
interior  products  which  seemed  to  cover  every  inch  of  avail 
able  open  space  along  the  banks  of  Cooper  River. 

Alas,  the  change! 


CHAPTER    XIII 

MEN   AND  MANNERS  AT  HOME  AND  ABROAD 

MARCH  23,  1881,  I  sailed  for  Europe  on  the  same  ship  with 
Rev.  Theodore  Cuyler,  D.  D.  I  quote  here  a  portion  of  Dr. 
Cuyler's  description  of  the  voyage,  which  is  to  be  found  in  a 
volume  of  travels  entitled  "  From  the  Nile  to  Norway." 

"  It  was  a  raw  March  morning  on  which  the  stout  ship 
Bothnia  threw  off  her  lines,  and  a  cutting  wind  smote  in  the 
faces  of  the  kind  friends  who  gave  us  a  parting  cheer.  The 
russet  hills  of  Staten  Island  slowly  disappeared,  then  the 
pasteboard  of  Manhattan  Beach ;  then  we  passed  the  life- 
ship  and  we  were  out  on  the  great  wide  sea.  It  has  not 
grown  much  narrower  since  I  crossed  it  in  the  packet  ship 
Patrick  Henry,  thirty-eight  years  ago,  when  I  was  a  college 
youth ;  but  steam  has  put  a  carpeted  cabin  across  the  waves 
in  half  the  time.  The  Bothnia  is  not  famous  for  speed,  but 
she  is  spacious,  stout  and  sociable.  Captain  McKay's  genial 
face  throws  a  sunshine  on  her  deck  on  the  darkest  morning, 
and  Engineer  Brown's  violin  can  make  the  roughest  night 
merry  as  a  Christmas  Feast.  We  have  four  hundred  and 
twenty  feet  for  promenade  and  a  very  genial  company  to 
keep  step  with  in  our  daily  walk.  The  steamer  runs  as  true 
as  a  clock  and  hardly  varied  from  three  hundred  and  twenty 
miles  a  day  after  we  left  Sandy  Hook. 

"  At  the  Captain's  table  we  have  Gen.  Richmond  (Consul 
at  Rome),  Col.  Richard  Lathers,  the  Hon.  Mr.  Maxwell  and 
several  other  good  sailors,  who  put  in  an  appearance  at 
every  meal.  My  kind  friend,  Mr.  Howard  Gibb,  a  Broad 
way  merchant,  presided  at  the  opposite  table ;  for  he  has 
crossed  so  often  in  the  Bothnia  that  he  has  the  freedom  of 
the  ship. 

350 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  351 

''  The  most  enjoyable  time  on  board,  is  the  evening.  Then 
a  party  of  us  assemble  in  Purser  Wallace's  room,  and  the 
Captain  tells  his  full  share  of  the  lively  stories  which  keep 
the  room  in  a  roar.  [Here  the  doctor  omits  the  most  at 
tractive  part  of  these  social  gatherings,  namely  his  own  in 
teresting  personal  reminiscences  and  his  marvelous  readings 
from  the  poems  of  Robert  Burns.] 

"  Later  in  the  evening  we  adjourn  to  the  room  of  Chief- 
Engineer  Brown,  who  is  a  typical  Scotchman  worthy  of  a 
place  in  one  of  Sir  Walter's  romances.  Brown  is  not  only 
a  staunch  Presbyterian,  but  is  master  of  the  violin,  and  the 
sight  of  him  as  he  is  pouring  forth  such  old  Scotch  melodies 
as  Bonnie  Do  on,  John  Anderson  my  Jo,  and  Come  Under  my 
Plaidie,  accompanied  by  the  flute  of  Col.  Richard  Lathers, 
reminds  one  of  the  Last  Minstrel  when  he  played  before 
Duchess  in  old  Branksome  Tower.  He  puts  his  whole  soul 
into  the  instrument  whether  the  strains  be  grave  or  gay. 
So  popular  are  his  performances,  that  his  cabin  is  packed  and 
some  of  the  ladies  are  glad  to  join  our  party  and  enjoy  these 
delightful  nichts  wi  Burns.  More  than  one  of  my  clerical 
brethren  have  lively  remembrances  of  the  Scotch  stories  and 
strains  of  Highland  melody  in  the  cosy  room  of  Engineer 
Brown.  .  .  . 

"  Last  Sabbath  was  a  day  of  storm.  I  fear  that  but  few  of 
our  passengers  greeted  the  morning  with  the  familiar  lines 
*  Welcome  sweet  day  of  rest.'  The  deck  was  spattered  with 
rain  and  washed  with  the  stray  seas  that  climbed  over  the  bow. 
Only  one-half  of  the  passengers  were  able  to  join  with  the 
Captain  and  crew  at  the  morning  service  in  the  main  saloon ; 
even  some  of  these  beat  a  hasty  retreat  before  the  services 
were  over.  While  the  sailors  were  standing  up  to  sing  the 
Psalter  to  old  '  Dundee,'  they  swayed  to  and  fro  like  pendu 
lums,  and  while  I  was  preaching  I  had  to  hold  on  with  both 
hands  to  the  table.  My  theme  was  the  four  anchors  which 
Paul's  shipmates  threw  out  during  the  tempestuous  voyage  to 
Rome.  .  .  .  The  old  English  liturgy  is  the  common  vehicle 
of  devotion  at  all  the  services  of  the  vessels.  We  all  meet  on 


352  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  common  ground  of  the  Apostle's  Creed,  the  Psalter  and 
Chrysostom's  sweet,  simple  prayer;  and  as  staunch  a  Presby 
terian  as  my  Scotch  friend,  Mr.  Hugh  Sterling,  could  join  in 
the  responses  as  heartily  as  my  Episcopal  neighbor,  Col.  Rich 
ard  Lathers.  On  shore  I  prefer  voluntary  extemporaneous  de 
votions  ;  at  sea  I  can  appreciate  Professor  Hitchcock's  argu 
ments  for  a  Book  of  Common  Prayer." 

Some  fifteen  years  after  this  ocean  voyage  in  the  company 
of  this  "  godly  and  broad-minded,  eloquent  dissenter,"  as  we 
churchmen  call  Dr.  Cuyler,  I  attended  Dr.  Cuyler's  celebration 
of  his  seventy-fifth  birthday.  His  parlors  were  filled  by  the 
elite  of  Brooklyn  and  New  York.  The  Catholic  Church  was 
represented  by  Father  Sylvester  Malone,  who,  a  few  years 
before,  had  celebrated  the  fiftieth  anniversary  of  his  faithful 
pastorate  over  another  Brooklyn  congregation,  on  which  oc 
casion  Protestants  had  assembled  with  Catholics  to  offer  hearty 
congratulations.  I  particularly  enjoyed  hearing  these  two  ven 
erable  and  popular  representatives  of  widely  different  creeds 
felicitating  each  other.  My  association  with  such  men  as 
Dr.  Cuyler  has  deeply  impressed  on  me  the  soundness  of  the 
poet's  lines 

"  For  forms  of  faith  let  graceless  zealots  fight, 
His  can't  be  wrong  whose  life  is  in  the  right." 

But  to  return  to  my  European  trip. 

While  my  daughters  and  I  were  breakfasting  in  the  coffee- 
room  of  a  Dublin  hotel,  preparatory  to  taking  the  steamer  to 
England,  we  had  for  a  table  companion  an  English  "  whole 
sale  pedlar"  (as  the  commercial  traveler  is  called),  very 
pompous  and  very  brusque.  Having  heard  him  give  direc 
tions  about  his  baggage  for  the  steamer,  I  politely  asked  him 
the  time  the  vessel  would  sail.  Taking  from  his  vest  pocket 
an  eyeglass  and  placing  it  in  his  right  eye,  a  habit  of  these 
vulgar  fellows  when  they  wish  to  treat  a  person  with  scorn, 
he  replied,  "  There  is  the  waiter,  Sir,  he  can  inform  you."  On 
the  steamer  the  magnificent  traveler  ostentatiously  bestowed 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  353 

his  wraps  and  his  satchel  on  the  seat  next  to  mine.  As  we 
passed  the  beautiful  island  of  Anglesea,  I  pointed  out  to  my 
daughters  the  different  features  of  the  landscape  and  expressed 
a  regret  that  the  fine  villa  of  the  owner  of  the  island,  whom 
I  called  by  name,  was  not  in  sight.  A  middle-aged  gentleman, 
accompanied  by  two  young  ladies,  who  was  seated  near  us, 
approached  and,  touching  his  broad-brimmed  hat,  politely  re 
marked,  "  Pardon  the  liberty  I  take,  but  as  you  are  strangers 
admiring  the  coast,  I  desire  to  correct  your  mistake  as  to  the 
occupancy  of  that  island ;  it  is  the  residence  of  the  Marchioness 

,  my  sister,  and  not  of  the  distinguished  gentleman 

you  named."  This  opened  the  way  for  a  pleasant  conversation, 
from  which  I  learned  that  my  interlocutor  had  visited  New 
York  and  was  a  friend  of  Mr.  George  B.  Dorr  and  Mr.  George 
Clinton,  both  of  whom  I  knew  well. 

Just  before  the  steamer  arrived,  he  said  to  me,  "  Perhaps, 
during  your  stay  in  London  you  would  like  to  visit  our  Clubs," 
and  taking  a  large  card  from  his  card-case  he  wrote  some 
thing  in  pencil  upon  it.  I  took  the  card,  thanking  him  for 
his  courtesy,  and  put  it  carelessly  in  my  pocket,  for  I  had  begun 
to  fear  he  was  making  sport  of  me.  That  a  man  who  seemed 
to  be  cumbered  with  canes,  fishing-rods,  blankets,  satchels,  and 
other  hand  baggage,  and  who  wras  so  little  of  an  aristocrat  in 
appearance,  should  be  the  brother  of  a  marchioness,  the  Presi 
dent  of  the  Yacht  Club  on  his  way  to  join  the  fleet  at  Cowes, 
and  a  member  of  prominent  London  clubs,  strained  somewhat 
my  credulity.  I  noticed,  however,  that  when  he  and  his  daugh 
ters  walked  forward  to  see  to  their  heavy  baggage,  they  were 
met  by  a  liveried  servant,  who  relieved  them  of  their  innumer 
able  bundles  and  conducted  them  to  a  private  carriage,  which 
was  in  waiting  at  the  end  of  the  wharf;  and  this  convinced 
me  that  he  was  at  least  no  ordinary  impostor.  While  I  was 
still  trying  to  decide  whether  I  had  been  fooled  or  not,  the 
impertinent  "  wholesale  pedlar,"  who  had  contrived  to  keep 
within  hearing  distance  during  my  conversation  with  the 
stranger,  came  up  and,  touching  his  hat  in  the  most  obsequious 
manner,  said,  "  Excuse  me,  Sir,  but  I  perceive  that  you  are 


354  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

not  aware  of  the  honor  you  have  enjoyed.  Please  examine 
the  card  you  put  in  your  pocket  without  looking  at  it."  I  re 
plied,  "  This  is  quite  unnecessary,  for  the  culture  and  deport 
ment  of  the  person  with  whom  I  was  talking  just  now  are 
sufficient  evidence  that  he  is  a  gentleman." 

I  looked  at  the  card,  however,  after  I  had  got  rid  of  this 
vulgar  fellow.  It  bore  an  engraved  coat  of  arms  and  other 
insignia  of  family  and  official  distinction,  the  name  "  Earl  of 
Orkney,"  as  I  remember,  and  a  penciled  introduction  of  Mr. 
Richard  Lathers  of  New  York  to  three  of  the  leading  clubs 
of  London. 

As  the  above  incident  indicates,  there  is  no  more  agreeable, 
thoughtful,  and  sincere  a  man  in  the  world  than  the  cultivated 
Englishman ;  on  the  other  hand,  there  is  no  more  annoying 
and  disgusting  a  man  than  the  toadying,  uncultivated  English 
man. 

On  reaching  London,  I  presented  the  Earl  of  Orkney's  card 
at  the  different  clubs,  but  it  procured  simply  permission  to 
visit,  accompanied  by  a  servant,  the  more  public  rooms  on  a 
single  occasion.  Indeed,  exclusiveness,  as  I  afterwards  learned, 
is  the  prime  feature  of  this  class  of  clubs,  and  one  needs  even 
more  official  influence  to  enter  them  than  is  required  to  secure 
a  card  to  the  Queen's  drawing  room.  It  is  even  said  that  a 
member  of  an  aristocratic  London  club  was  once  disciplined 
because  he  spoke  to  a  new  member  without  a  personal  intro 
duction. 

It  is  just  possible  that  our  New  York  clubs,  like  the  par 
lors  of  our  "  four  hundred,"  are  more  accessible  to  aggressive 
foreigners  than  to  our  own  people.  However  this  may  be,  it 
is  certain  that  the  clubs  of  London  do  not  reciprocate  the 
courtesies  extended  to  their  members  by  the  clubs  of  New 
York. 

Here  is  a  case  in  point. 

Just  before  I  sailed  from  New  York,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Lotos  Club  (which  had  always  been  famous  for  its  lavish 
entertainment  of  visiting  Englishmen),  gave  me  a  letter  of 
introduction  as  a  director  of  the  Club  to  the  President  of  the 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  355 

Savage  Club  of  London.  He  specially  requested  me  to  present 
this  letter  and  to  avail  myself  of  the  privileges  of  the  Savage 
Club,  the  large  number  of  persons  who  had  recently  come  to 
the  Lotos  with  introductions  from  that  body  having  become 
almost  burdensome  by  reason  of  their  long  stays  (involving 
constant  applications  for  extensions  of  time)  and  their  exacting 
temperaments. 

I  presented  myself  several  times  at  the  Club  House  in  Lon 
don  without  being  able  to  find  any  person  of  higher  authority 
than  the  clerk,  who  appeared  to  be  merely  a  sort  of  caterer 
for  the  chop  house  attached  to  the  Club,  where  a  hasty,  econ 
omical  lunch,  practically  limited  to  mutton  chops,  potatoes, 
and  beer,  could  be  obtained  during  business  hours.  This 
worthy  informed  me  that  I  might  order  refreshments,  to  be 
paid  for  on  delivery,  in  the  chop  house,  a  privilege  of  which 
I  availed  myself  occasionally ;  but  I  could  get  access  to  no 
Club  officer,  and  was  accorded  none  of  the  other  privileges  of 
the  Club.  At  last,  however,  I  met  one  of  the  officers,  who 
informed  me  that  he  had  had  the  honor  of  being  a  guest  of 
the  Lotos  Club,  and  would  be  happy  to  extend  the  courtesies 
of  the  Savage  Club  to  a  director  of  the  Lotos.  He  said  that 
the  Club  proposed  to  make  an  excursion  to  Calais,  France,  the 
following  Sunday,  and  that,  on  the  payment  of  a  guinea  in 
advance,  a  ticket  good  for  the  round  trip  and  for  a  dinner  at 
Calais  would  be  given  me.  I  did  as  he  directed,  secured  my 
ticket  and  met  the  excursion  party  at  the  railroad  station  at 
the  appointed  hour,  but  was  not  introduced  there  to  a  single 
member  of  the  Club.  I  found  an  American  member,  however, 
who  explained  that  official  introductions  of  this  kind  were  not 
very  common.  He  promised  to  look  out  for  me,  but  was  not 
able  to  do  very  much,  by  reason  of  his  previous  engagements 
with  his  friends,  and  on  both  the  cars  and  the  steamer  I  was 
practically  alone. 

On  reaching  Calais  we  marched  two  abreast  up  to  the  City 
Hall,  where  the  Mayor  addressed  us  in  French  and  our  Presi 
dent  responded  in  the  same  language.  The  Frenchmen  com 
plained  that  our  President's  French  was  so  "  classical  "  that 


356  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

they  did  not  understand  it,  and,  of  course,  most  of  us  did  not 
understand  either  him  or  the  Mayor.  But  we  all  understood 
and  enjoyed  uncorking  the  bottles  of  champagne  which  were 
provided.  This  ceremony  over,  we  were  informed  that  dinner 
would  be  served  in  a  hall  of  the  railway  station  at  four  o'clock, 
and  that  till  then  we  were  at  liberty  to  occupy  our  time  as  we 
pleased.  It  was  explained,  further,  that  after  dinner  there 
would  be  fireworks  in  the  public  garden,  to  which  the  en 
trance  fee  would  be  moderate,  and  that  the  cabins  of  the 
steamer  would  be  open  at  twelve  o'clock  for  our  return ;  but 
that,  to  prevent  confusion,  no  one  would  be  permitted  to  en 
ter  them  until  that  hour.  This  program  was  most  incon 
venient  for  me.  I  did  not  desire  to  see  the  fireworks,  being 
already  quite  disgusted  with  the  treatment  I  was  receiving  as 
a  guest  of  the  Club,  and  I  wished  to  retire  early.  But  there 
was  no  help  for  it. 

My  American  acquaintance  went  off  with  his  friends  to  en 
joy  a  bath,  and  I  wandered  around  the  town  alone  till  the 
dinner  hour. 

When  I  entered  the  hall  in  which  the  dinner  was  to  be 
held,  I  found  it  filled  with  temporary  tables  made  of  trestles 
covered  with  floor  planking,  and  on  these  decidely  uneven 
surfaces  the  cloths  were  laid.  The  seats  were  benches,  most 
of  which  had  been  constructed,  like  the  tables,  by  laying  planks 
on  trestles,  and  these  benches  were  all  occupied.  Being  unable 
to  procure  a  seat,  I  waited  till  my  American  acquaintance  and 
his  party,  who  were  late,  returned  from  their  bath,  when  a 
fresh  supply  of  lumber  was  brought  in  with  which  we  con 
structed  more  tables  and  benches ;  but  we  had  to  do  without 
tablecloths,  the  supply  of  which  was  exhausted.  The  ban 
quet  consisted  of  plain,  substantial  food,  served  with  good 
wines,  coffee,  and  cigars.  It  was  partaken  of  with  great 
hilarity,  and  was  supplemented  by  speeches  which  may  have 
been  highly  entertaining  to  those  who  were  French  scholars 
(even  the  English  speakers  spoke  in  French),  but  which  were 
anything  but  entertaining  to  those  of  us  who  were  not.  Late 
in  the  dinner,  the  paiest  from  the  sister  club  in  New  York  was 

o 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  357 

told  that  he  would  be  expected  to  respond  to  a  toast  of  his 
Club,  but  the  party  broke  up  before  the  American  toast  was 
reached. 

On  our  arrival  in  London,  I  was  kindly  asked  by  the  Presi 
dent,  who  had  not  approached  me  before,  if  I  had  enjoyed 
my  visit  to  the  rare  old  city  of  Calais. 

Later  on,  partly  in  consequence  of  this  incident  (which  it 
afforded  me  great  glee  to  relate  at  the  Lotos  on  my  return  to 
New  York),  the  attempt  at  reciprocity  between  the  Savage 
Club  and  the  Lotos  Club  was  practically  abandoned,  and  I 
cannot  honestly  say  that  I  was  sorry  thereat. 

Many  of  the  English  visitors  to  the  United  States  are  most 
desirable  in  all  respects  as  guests  and,  in  their  country 
homes,  dispense  a  return  hospitality  which  makes  us  all  in 
love  with  English  social  life.  The  American  in  London  who 
presents  proper  letters  to  his  banker,  may  find  the  latter  rather 
bluff  in  his  counting-room ;  but  when  he  takes  him  to  his  su 
burban  villa  and  dons  the  regulation  dress-coat  for  dinner,  he  is 
a  prince  in  deportment,  and,  better  still,  the  cultivated  and  en 
gaging  head  of  a  genial,  refined  family. 

I  recall  my  first  visit  to  Todmorden,  near  Manchester,  the 
country-seat  of  Thomas  Fielding,  Esq.,  to  whom  I  have  al 
ready  referred. 

After  dinner,  the  drawing  room  was  filled  with  merchants, 
literary  men,  and  members  of  Parliament — among  the  last 
named,  the  son  of  Mr.  Corbett,  well  known  in  both  England 
and  America  for  his  sound  views  of  government.  Mr.  Cor 
bett  was  surprised  and,  I  think,  pleased  when  I  told  him  that 
I  had  studied  English  grammar  from  his  father's  wonderfully 
useful  textbook  on  that  subject,  which  is  considered  by  many 
grammarians  superior  to  the  Murray's  Grammar  of  our  own 
country.  One  of  the  young  ladies  not  only  presided  at  the 
piano,  but  performed  a  march  or  two  (to  the  accompaniment 
of  her  sisters'  violins)  on  the  cornet,  an  instrument  she  had 
learned  to  play  in  order  to  instruct  a  volunteer  band  of  the 
regiment  commanded  by  her  brother. 

Towards   ten   o'clock,   when   the   visitors   were    distributed 


358  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

through  the  various  rooms  (library,  billiard  room,  music  room, 
and  drawing  room)  according  to  their  respective  tastes,  Mr. 
Fielding  invited  me  into  his  private  study.  After  we  had  sat 
there  conversing  for  some  time,  the  door  opened  and  Mrs. 
Fielding  came  in,  accompanied  by  a  servant  in  livery  bearing 
a  large  silver  waiter  upon  which  were  a  decanter  of  old  Scotch 
whisky,  hot  water,  sugar,  and  lemons.  These  were  placed  on 
a  little  round  table  between  us  and  then,  with  a  kiss  to  her 
husband  and  a  good-night  to  his  visitor,  this  beautiful  and 
cultivated  woman  laid  out  with  her  own  hands  a  pair  of  em 
broidered  slippers  for  each  of  us  and  retired — the  servant 
standing  ready  to  draw  off  our  boots,  his  last  act  of  service 
for  the  night.  I  shall  never  forget  this  example  of  an  English 
wife's  courteous  thoughtfulness  which  the  luxurious  surround 
ings  rendered  only  the  more  touching. 

The  next  morning,  I  breakfasted  alone,  breakfast  being  ab 
solutely  without  ceremony.  Each  person  in  the  house,  whether 
a  guest  or  a  member  of  the  family,  was  expected  to  take  this 
simple  but  substantial  meal  when  he  chose.  The  gentlemen, 
being  bankers  or  manufacturers,  had  already  gone  to  their 
offices  when  I  descended  to  the  breakfast  room,  and  the  ladies 
had  not  yet  appeared.  Before  the  grate  were  various  dishes 
containing  chops,  eggs,  muffins,  tea,  and  coffee.  A  waiter  stood 
ready  to  provide  a  hot  plate  and  a  napkin  and  any  of  the  ar 
ticles  of  food  desired.  As  I  finished  my  meal  a  young  lady 
appeared  and,  after  the  usual  compliments  of  the  morning,  in 
formed  me  that  she  was  detailed  to  entertain  me  and  that  the 
family  carriage  would  be  at  the  door  at  eleven  o'clock  for 
a  morning  drive ;  but  that,  if  I  would  prefer  a  horseback  ride, 
a  good  saddle  horse  with  which  I  could  accompany  the  ladies 
was  at  my  disposal.  She  invited  me  to  walk  out  to  the  stables 
with  her,  as  she  wanted  to  show  me  her  own  pet  saddle  horse. 
As  we  entered  the  stables,  she  called  the  hostler  and,  going 
into  one  of  the  box  stalls,  rubbed  the  side  of  her  horse  with 
her  white  cambric  handkerchief,  a  proceeding  to  which  the 
hostler  was  evidently  accustomed  and  for  which  he  was  well 
prepared. 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  359 

On  returning  from  our  drive  to  luncheon,  my  cicerone  found 
two  or  three  friends  waiting  for  her,  and,  filling  the  silver  cups 
with  home-made  beer,  she  invited  us  all  to  partake  freely  of 
her  own  brew.  The  evening  before  I  had  heard  this  same 
young  lady  discussing  art  and  the  opera  with  some  society 
men,  and  the  Educational  Bill,  then  before  Parliament,  with 
a  member  of  that  body.  Few,  if  any,  of  the  daughters  of  the 
parvenus  of  New  York  can  boast,  I  fancy,  of  such  a  wide 
range  of  accomplishments. 

I  was  in  London  when  the  news  of  the  assassination  of 
President  Garfield  reached  that  city,  and  I  united  with  a  few 
other  Americans  in  calling  a  meeting  at  the  American  Ex 
change  for  the  purpose  of  expressing  sympathy  with  Mrs. 
Garfield  in  her  terrible  affliction.  This  meeting  resulted  in  a 
larger  meeting  which,  after  listening  to  speeches  of  condolence, 
adopted  the  following  Address  and  ordered  it  to  be  engrossed 
and  forwarded  to  Mrs.  Garfield  by  the  Chairman : 

"  Madam- — I  have  the  honor  to  forward  you  an  address 
unanimously  adopted  at  a  meeting  in  which  over  five  hundred 
Americans  and  English  sympathizers  took  part  in  the  Ameri 
can  Exchange  in  London.  We,  the  undersigned  Americans 
in  London  whose  hearts  are  wrung  with  sorrow  by  the  ter 
rible  crime  which  has  been  perpetrated  on  the  person  of  our 
beloved  President,  respectfully  offer  you  our  deepest  sympathy 
in  this  national  calamity." 

I  was  still  in  London,  when  word  came  of  President  Gar- 
field's  death.  The  following  letter  which  I  sent  from  there 
to  a  friend  was  intended  to  give  an  idea  of  the  profound  im 
pression  the  sad  news  made: 

"LONDON,  Sept.  25th,  1881. 

"My  Dear  Mr.  Smith-' — I  have  a  few  minutes  to  spare  and 
I  fancy  you  would  like  to  have  a  little  sketch  of  the  feelings  and 
ceremonies  here  in  London  connected  with  the  death  of  the 
President  of  our  country.  A  profound  grief  has  taken  pos 
session  of  all  of  us  Americans  and  our  English  friends  of  every 
class  join  in  our  sorrow  for  the  loss  of  President  Garfield, 


360  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

and  in  our  execration  of  the  foul  assassination  which  so  de 
grades  our  common  civilization. 

"  On  receipt  of  the  sad  news,  arrangements  were  made 
at  once  through  Minister  Lowell  for  a  memorial  service 
and  a  large  meeting  was  held  at  Exeter  Hall,  where  Mr. 
Lowell  delivered  an  able  and  scholarly  address  full  of  sym 
pathy  with  the  bereaved  and  full  of  hope  that  this  severe  blow 
to  our  country  might  be  overruled  by  Divine  Providence  for 
our  good.  But  the  great  speech  of  the  mournful  occasion  was 
made  by  the  eloquent,  pious,  and  altogether  judicious  Bishop 
Simpson,  of  the  Methodist  Church,  who  a  few  years  ago,  as 
you  must  remember,  preached  a  magnificent  dedication  ser 
mon  at  the  Methodist  Church  of  our  village,  and  who  may  be 
regarded  as  the  St.  Paul  of  the  Methodist  communion  in 
America. 

"  The  opening  prayer  was  made  by  Dr.  Marshall,  another 
eloquent  Methodist  Divine,  whose  tender  appeals  for  comfort 
for  the  widow,  and  for  the  fatherless  children,  as  well  as  for 
our  bereaved  country  deeply  moved  the  whole  audience.  It 
was  remarked  that  Dr.  Marshall  was  a  bright  example  of  the 
real  restoration  of  loyal  feeling  at  the  South,  and  that  a  com 
mon  affliction  was  doing  much  to  make  our  Union  a  union 
of  hearts  as  well  as  a  union  of  States. 

"  On  Sunday  many  of  the  churches  held  special  commem 
orative  services,  but  yesterday  was  literally  set  apart  as  a  day 
of  mourning  throughout  London  and  burial  services  were  held 
in  nearly  all  the  churches. 

"  In  every  section  of  the  city  where  I  went,  I  observed 
marked  signs  of  spontaneous  mourning,  and  sorrow  appeared 
to  possess  every  person  whom  I  met. 

'  The  shipping  on  the  Thames,  the  Government  offices, 
churches,  club  houses,  public  gardens  and  public  institutions 
generally  displayed  British  flags  at  half  mast,  or  draped  flags 
of  our  country.  It  was  very  touching  to  see  on  many  of  the 
shops  and  private  dwellings  the  British  and  American  flags 
entwined  together,  and  wreathed  in  the  same  emblems  of 
mourning — as  if,  suffering  a  common  affliction,  they  sought 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  361 

communion  with  each  other.  I  will  here  mention  an  inter 
esting  fact.  The  Royal  Botanic  Society  during  the  funeral 
exercises  displayed  the  Union  Jack  at  half  mast,  draped  with 
palm  leaves  cut  from  a  palm  some  fifty  years  old,  which  had 
been  growing  in  its  garden  forty  years. 

"  Notwithstanding  the  estrangements  incident  to  national 
rivalries  and  jealousies,  there  comes  a  time  when  '  blood  is 
thicker  than  water/  and  the  presence  of  death  is  a  touch  of 
nature  that  makes  us  all  kin.  It  makes  one's  heart  glad  to 
witness  this  demonstration  of  brotherhood  between  two  of  the 
most  enlightened  Protestant  nations,  differently  governed  yet 
enjoying  alike  the  blessings  of  constitutional  liberty,  and  work 
ing  out  independently,  each  by  its  own  chosen  means,  a  high 
Christian  civilization.  After  all,  the  poet  formulated  a  great 
truth  when  he  wrote : 

"'For  forms  of  government  let  fools  contest, 
What  e'er  is  best  administered  is  best.' 

u  The  international  disputes  of  the  '  Alabama  Capture '  and 
the  '  Fishery  Outrage  '  are  buried  deep  and  nothing  is  now 
heard  but  generous  consolation  from  every  Englishman  one 
meets  coupled  with  wishes  for  the  future  prosperity  of  the 
American  Republic.  The  Queen,  a  veritable  Empress  of  the 
heart,  has  led  in  these  glorious  manifestations  of  international 
comity  and  of  personal  sympathy  for  her  sister  across  the 
water. 

"  Victoria  is  unquestionably  the  Elizabeth  of  her  age,  and 
yet  she  is  far  in  advance  of  Elizabeth  in  womanly  grace  and 
virtue.  Her  reign  coincides  with  the  most  brilliant  period  of 
British  progress ;  but  her  kind  expressions  of  sympathy  for 
Mrs.  Garfield,  the  sending  of  a  delicate  floral  offering  to  dec 
orate  the  bier  of  the  deceased  President,  the  assumption  of 
mourning  by  herself  and  her  Court,  and  in  fact  her  whole 
attitude  at  this  trying  time  will  shine  above  all  else  in  her 
life's  history.  The  noble  impulses  of  her  good  heart  will  give 
her  record  a  crown  of  Christian  grace. 


362   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  Her  armies  have  annexed  many  peoples  to  her  Empire, 
but  her  noble  conduct  has  captured  the  hearts  of  millions  of 
freemen.  And  when  Bishop  Simpson  in  his  eloquent  manner 
exclaimed,  '  God  bless  Queen  Victoria ! '  the  thousands  rose 
en  masse  to  say,  'Amen,  God  Bless  her ! '  And  it  was  long 
before  the  enthusiasm  could  be  sufficiently  quieted  to  enable 
the  reverend  orator  to  proceed.  How  love  and  sympathy 
conquer  a  brave  and  generous  people  when  hostile  armies 
fail! 

"  In  Westminster  Abbey,  prayers  were  said  for  Mrs.  Gar- 
field  and  family,  and  Handel's  Funeral  Anthem  and  other  fu 
neral  pieces  were  rendered.  At  St.  Paul's  Cathedral  an  inter 
esting  service  was  held.  At  St.  Martin's-in-the-Fields,  the 
venerable  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  preached  the  sermon, — 
a  most  effective  and  thoughtful  address.  I  annex  an  extract, 
which  exemplifies  admirably  the  prevailing  sentiments. 

"  '  Families  disunited  are  said  often  to  be  brought  together 
by  some  family  sorrow.  Thank  God  we  are  not  disunited, 
but  we  may  be  brought  to  understand  and  love  each  other 
more  by  our  union  in  this  common  sorrow.  There  are  many 
bonds  that  keep  us  together — the  same  blood,  the  same  tongue, 
the  privilege  of  enjoying  each  other's  literature,  whilst  each 
lends  the  aid  of  its  science  to  develop  the  industries,  the  pros 
perity  and  the  happiness  of  both.  We  have  learned  to  ap 
preciate  each  other.  We  know  here  in  England  your  bound 
less  hospitality  shown  to  ourselves  or  our  sons  who  visit  you ; 
but  our  union  above  all  must  be  based  on  our  common  Chris 
tianity.  To  us  the  Almighty  has  committed  beyond  the  trust 
He  has  given  to  any  other  nations  of  the  world,  to  carry 
through  the  boundaries  of  the  human  race  civilization  based 
on  Christianity.  Let  us  learn  that  this  union  is  the  only  true 
union  to  keep  us  really  together  in  the  dark  ages  that  ma  y  be 
in  store  for  the  human  race ;  that  family  life,  social  life,  politi 
cal  life,  must  all  have  its  cement  in  the  Gospel.  Some  may 
think  that  from  this  country  there  goes  forth  at  times  an  un 
certain  sound  as  to  religion,  and  that  we  receive  uncertain 
sounds  over  the  Atlantic  from  our  brethren  there,  but  the 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  363 

heart  of  both  nations,  thank  God,  is  still  truly  Christian.'  His 
Grace  pronounced  the  benediction,  and  the  '  Dead  March  in 
Saul '  was  played  on  the  organ  as  the  vast  congregation 
slowly  left  the  church. 

"  At  the  mounting  of  the  Queen's  Guards  in  the  morning 
at  the  palace,  the  band  played  the  '  Dead  March  in  Saul.'  In 
all  the  royal  palaces  the  window-blinds  were  closed.  In  the 
evening,  the  bells  of  St.  Paul's  were  tolled,  which  are  tolled 
only  at  the  death  of  one  of  the  Royal  Family.  Among  other 
distinguished  clergymen  who  officiated  in  the  services  at  the 
different  churches  were  Dr.  Parker  and  Rev.  Newman  Hall 
and  the  new  Dean  of  Westminster  Abbey,  whose  name  has 
escaped  me  for  the  moment. 

'  Telegrams  from  almost  every  section  of  Europe,  especially 
from  Germany  and  France,  bring  us  accounts  of  funeral 
services.  In  Paris,  services  were  held  in  the  old  church 
1'Oratoire,  under  the  auspices  of  Mr.  Martin,  our  Minister 
there,  and  of  the  American  Colony.  Bishop  Dudley  of  Ken 
tucky  made  the  principal  address.  It  may  be  interesting  for 
you  to  know  that  Coligny,  Richardson  and  Lafayette  wor 
shiped  in  this  old  church.  It  is  sad  to  recall  the  fact  that 
some  three  hundred  years  ago,  fifteen  hundred  Protestant 
women  and  children  were  brutally  murdered  within  its  walls 
by  the  fanatics  of  that  age. 

"  But  I  must  close,  to  catch  the  mail,  without  taking  time 
to  read  for  correction.  I  leave  for  home  on  Saturday  by  the 
Bothnia — glad  to  get  back  to  see  you  all — for  the  more  I  travel 
the  better  I  like  those  I  leave  behind  me. 

"  Yours  in  haste, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

Oct.  17,  1882,  at  a  banquet  given  at  Delmonico's  by  the 
Associated  Marine  Underwriters  of  the  United  States  in  honor 
of  their  President,  Thomas  C.  Hand  of  Philadelphia,  I  re 
sponded  to  the  sentiment,  "  Shipping  and  Commerce  " ;  and 
in  January,  1883,  I  delivered  a  lecture  at  Lyceum  Hall,  New 
Rochelle,  on  "  Women  and  their  Relation  to  Society,"  in 


364  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

which,  while  opposing  the  exercise  of  the  suffrage  by  woman 
and  her  direct  participation  in  politics,  I  expressed  the  opinion 
that  her  piety,  her  sympathy,  her  love,  and  her  restraining  in 
fluence  are  the  efficient  and  only  means  by  which  society  has 
been  or  can  be  elevated  and  purified.  I  afterwards  published 
this  lecture  as  a  brochure,  dedicating  it  to  Mrs.  Jennie  Cun 
ningham  Croly,  better  known  as  "  Jennie  June,"  whose  char 
acter  and  career  I  greatly  admired. 

The  next  month  I  was  invited  to  participate  in  a  meeting 
to  deliberate  upon  the  best  manner  of  honoring  the  memory 
of  Wm.  E.  Dodge,  one  of  my  best  friends,  whose  death  had 
been  a  great  shock  to  me.  I  had  had  the  honor  and  advantage 
of  association  with  Mr.  Dodge  in  connection  with  a  large 
number  of  public  and  private  enterprises,  but  I  was  especially 
grateful  to  him  for  his  support  and  advice  as  a  fellow-membei 
of  the  Board  of  Directors  of  the  Erie  Railroad  at  the  time  I 
was  Chairman  of  its  Finance  Committee. 

I  cannot  recall  a  single  worthy  charitable  or  religious  under 
taking  in  New  York  during  Mr.  Dodge's  lifetime  of  which 
he  was  not  an  earnest  and  active  supporter  and  promoter.  He 
did  not  know  the  meaning  of  sectarianism  or  sectionalism. 
His  Christianity  embraced  every  missionary  effort  at  home  and 
abroad;  and,  although  an  intense  Unionist  and  opposed  to 
slavery,  he  was  always  ready  to  give  to  the  South  every  right 
which  the  Constitution  accorded,  to  make  every  concession  in 
the  interests  of  peace  consistent  with  the  Union,  and  even  to 
modify  the  Constitution  itself  to  insure  the  peace  and  unity 
of  the  nation.  While  no  man  was  more  consistently  deter 
mined  during  the  Rebellion  to  suppress  armed  resistance  to 
the  government,  none  was  more  ready,  when  the  South  was 
defeated  and  impoverished,  to  go  to  its  aid  with  liberal  loans 
and  gifts  of  money  to  individual  sufferers,  and  none  more  vig 
orous  in  opposing  as  far  as  he  could  by  his  influence  in 
Congress  and  in  his  party,  every  measure  tending  to  subject 
the  Southern  States  to  indignity  or  to  deprive  Southerners  of 
their  equal  rights  as  members  of  a  reunited  country.  I  cannot 
resist  the  temptation  to  adduce  an  extract  from  his  patriotic 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  365 

speech  at  the  Peace  Congress,  of  which  he  was  a  member,  in 
evidence  of  his  manly  statesmanship  at  a  time  when  his 
Party  was  as  fierce  in  its  sectionalism  as  the  Secession  Party 
at  the  South: 

"'  I  love  my  country  and  its  government.  My  heart  is  filled 
with  sorrow  at  the  dangers  threatening  it.  I  came  here  for 
peace.  The  country  longs  for  peace,  and  if  the  proposed 
amendments,  now  presented,  will  give  peace,  my  prayer  is 
that  they  may  be  adopted.  I  venerate  the  Constitution  and  its 
authors  as  highly  as  any  member  present ;  but  I  do  not  vener 
ate  it  so  highly  as  to  induce  me  to  witness  the  destruction  of 
the  government,  rather  than  see  the  Constitution  amended  or 
improved.  I  know  the  people  of  this  country — they  value  the 
Union — they  will  make  any  sacrifice  to  save  it — they  will  cast 
platforms  to  the  winds  before  they  will  imperil  the  Union." 

Mr.  Dodge  began  his  business  career,  while  still  a  mere 
boy,  as  a  clerk  in  a  country  store,  came  after  a  little  to  New 
York,  and,  by  hard  work,  rigid  economy,  good  judgment,  and 
strict  integrity  became  in  a  few  years  not  only  one  of  the 
city's  merchant  princes  but  one  of  its  first  citizens.  Here  is 
Mr.  Dodge's  own  account  of  his  early  business  training : 

"  The  year  1818  found  me  a  boy  in  a  wholsesale  dry  goods 
store  No.  324  Pearl  Street,  near  Peck  Slip.  It  was  a  different 
thing  to  be  a  boy  in  a  store  in  those  days  from  what  it  is  now. 
I  fear  that  many  young  men  anxious  to  get  started  would 
hesitate  long  before  facing  such  duties  as  had  then  to  be  per 
formed.  I  had  to  go  every  morning  to  Vandewater  Street  for 
the  keys,  as  my  employers  must  have  them  in  case  of  fire  in 
the  night.  There  was  much  ambition  at  that  time  among  the 
young  men  as  to  who  should  have  his  store  opened  first,  and 
I  used  to  be  up  soon  after  daylight  and  walk  to  Vandewater 
Street  and  then  to  the  store  very  early.  The  store  had  first 
to  be  sprinkled  with  water  which  I  brought  the  evening  before 
from  the  old  pump  at  the  corner  of  Peck  Slip,  and  then  care 
fully  swept  and  dusted.  Afterwards  came  sprinkling  the  side- 


366  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

walk  and  street  and  sweeping  the  dust  to  the  centre  in  a  heap 
for  the  dustcart  to  remove.  This  done,  one  of  the  older  clerks 
would  come  and  I  was  permitted  to  go  home  for  breakfast. 
In  winter  the  wood  was  to  be  carried  in  and  piled  in  the  cellar, 
fires  were  to  be  made  and  lamps  trimmed.  In  fact,  junior 
clerks  in  those  days  did  the  work  of  porters  now. 

"  The  dry  goods  auction  stores  were  mostly  on  the  corners 
in  the  block  from  Wall  Street  to  Pine  Street.  When  our  em 
ployer  purchased  a  lot  of  goods  at  auction,  it  was  our  busi 
ness  to  go  and  compare  them  with  the  bill  and,  if  two  of  us 
could  carry  them  back,  we  did  so,  as  it  would  save  a  shilling 
for  porterage.  I  remember  that  while  in  this  store,  I  carried 
bundles  of  goods  up  Broadway  to  Greenwich  village  (near 
to  what  is  now  Seventh  and  Eighth  avenues)  and  up  Fourth 
Avenue  to  Tenth  Street,  crossing  the  old  stone  bridge  at  Canal 
Street  which  had  long  square  timbers  on  the  sides,  in  place 
of  railings,  to  prevent  the  passers  falling  into  the  sluggish 
stream  fifteen  feet  below  which  came  from  the  lowlands  where 
Centre  Street  and  the  Tombs  now  stand.  It  was  the  great 
skating-place  in  winter.  Turning  in  at  the  left  of  the  Bridge,  I 
took  a  path  through  the  meadows  after  crossing  on  two  tim 
bers  over  the  ditches  where  the  tide  ebbed  and  flowed  from  the 
East  River. 

"  New  York  was  then  a  city  of  less  than  120,000  inhabi 
tants,  Brooklyn  a  town  of  some  7,000.  Most  of  the  families 
of  merchants  of  wealth  lived  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city, 
the  fashionable  residences  being  chiefly  around  the  Battery 
and  up  Broadway  and  Greenwich  Street  to  Cortlandt  Street. 
Not  more  than  twenty-five  families  kept  a  two-horse  carriage. 
The  Post  Office  was  in  the  parlors  of  a  private  house,  altered 
for  the  purpose,  at  the  corner  of  William  Street  and  Exchange 
Place.  I  well  remember  the  fun  we  had  crowding  each  other 
up  to  the  line  while  waiting  for  the  office  to  open.  Wood  at 
this  time  was  our  only  fuel.  Stoves  and  furnaces  had  not  yet 
come  into  use  and  how  my  fingers  and  feet  ached  with  cold 
as  I  stood  at  the  desk  of  a  bitter  cold  morning !  " 

In  1884,  shortly  after  Mr.  Elaine's  defeat  as  a  candidate  for 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  367 

the  Presidency,  I  had  the  pleasure  of  renewing  my  acquaint 
ance  with  him.  While  en  route  to  a  seashore  resort  I  found 
him  on  the  same  steamer  with  me,  surrounded  by  a  group  of 
politicians,  one  of  whom,  a  mutual  friend,  offered  to  present 
me.  I  declined,  fearing  I  might  not  be  well  received,  inas 
much  as  in  the  heated  campaign  just  past  I  had  reviewed 
Speaker  Elaine's  connection  with  the  Credit  Mobilier  scandals 
wyith  considerable  plainness. 

The  next  day  I  was  agreeably  surprised  by  a  call  from  Mr. 
Elaine,  who  pleasantly  reproached  me  for  not  speaking  to  him 
on  the  steamer.  Of  course,  I  politely  excused  myself  by  saying, 
"  I  found  you  so  much  engaged,  surrounded  as  you  were  by 
your  friends,  that  I  determined  to  defer  the  pleasure  of  re 
newing  our  acquaintance  until  I  could  call  on  you  at  your 
cottage."  I  added  that  I  was  much  flattered  at  being  remem 
bered  by  one  whose  time  was  so  much  taken  up  with  public 
men  and  measures.  Mr.  Elaine  answered  that  he  had  never 
forgotten  the  face  of  a  person  whom  he  had  once  fairly  met. 
"  You  will  recall,"  he  said,  "  that  you  replied,  as  Chairman 
of  the  South  Carolina  Delegation,  to  my  remarks  when  I  had 
the  pleasure  of  entertaining  that  Delegation  at  my  house  in 
Washington  in  1874." 

In  1885  I  was  talked  of  by  my  political  friends  as  a  can 
didate  for  State  Senator  in  the  district  in  which  I  had  been 
legally  elected  seven  years  before,  but  I  quickly  put  a  quietus 
upon  their  project  by  sending  to  one  of  their  organs  a  commu 
nication  in  which  I  stated  my  views  of  the  political  methods 
then  prevailing  frankly  and  fully: 

"  WINYAH  PARK,  NEW  ROCHELLE,  Sept.  I3th,  1885. 
"  To  THE  EDITOR  OF  THE  WHITE  PLAINS  Standard. 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — Permit  me  to  thank  you  for  the  kind  and 
flattering  notice  of  myself  in  connection  with  the  candidacy 
for  the  State  Senate.  I  have  not  put  myself  forward  for  that 
position  because  I  have  not  thought  it  proper  for  a  citizen  to 
anticipate  the  wishes  of  his  fellow  citizens  with  regard  to  a 
representative  office.  But  I  fully  appreciate  the  honor  of  being 


368  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

thought  by  any  of  my  fellow  citizens  worthy  to  represent  them, 
so  that  I  am  not  expected  to  attempt  to  influence  the  nominat 
ing  convention,  which,  in  my  judgment  ought  to  be  left  free 
to  select  the  candidate  most  fit  to  fill  the  position. 

"  I  have  had  more  or  less  to  do  with  the  politics  of  the 
county  during  thirty-six  years  of  service  in  the  Democratic 
Party,  but  have  always  studiously  avoided  putting  myself  for 
ward  for  any  position  in  the  gift  of  the  Party.  I  hope,  there 
fore,  that  my  friends  who  have  kindly  thought  of  me  in 
connection  with  the  Senate  and  who  have  reproached  me  with 
not  '  using  proper  means  to  procure  delegations  '  will  under 
stand  that  this  inactivity  does  not  arise  from  any  undervalua 
tion  of  the  honor  intended  but  from  a  repugnance  to  procuring 
a  nomination  by  such  means. 

"  I  believe  it  is  well  known  that  as  a  candidate,  freely  nomi 
nated,  activity  would  not  be  lacking  on  my  part  to  insure  the 
ratification  at  the  polls  of  so  flattering  a  mark  of  appreciation 
from  my  fellow  citizens.  The  habits  of  parties,  however,  pre 
clude  free  nomination,  and,  therefore,  men  like  myself  who  are 
unwilling  to  log-roll  or  purchase  delegations  must  not  aspire 
to  represent  the  people.  I  am,  yours  very  truly, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

At  the  Jackson  Day  banquet  at  the  Hoffman  House  in  1887, 
I  defended  the  administration  of  President  Cleveland,  par 
ticularly  its  civil  service  policy,  against  the  attacks  which  were 
made  upon  it  by  Bourke  Cockran  and  Charles  A.  Dana  in 
their  post-prandial  speeches ;  and  the  New  York  Times  of  the 
next  morning  had  the  goodness  to  say  that  I  had  "  laid  out  " 
these  worthies  in  an  "  irresistible  fashion." 

In  the  summer  of  1888  I  again  visited  Europe,  and  took 
part  at  Luzerne,  Switzerland,  in  the  first  appropriate  celebra 
tion  ever  held  there  of  the  anniversary  of  American  indepen 
dence.  At  the  banquet,  which  occurred  at  the  Grand  National 
Hotel,  I  responded  to  the  toast,  "  The  Institutions  of  our 
Country." 

As   I   rose  to   speak  the  toastmaster  said  to  me  in  a  low 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  369 

voice,  "  There  is  an  Englishman  here  who  wishes  you  to  tell 
the  company  what  America  has  done  in  the  course  of  its 
history  for  the  advancement  of  civilization."  After  making 
the  proper  references  to  the  significance  of  the  occasion,  I 
proceeded  to  mention  a  few  of  the  more  obvious  contributions 
of  America  to  the  civilization  of  the  world. 

"  We  were  the  first  people,"  I  said,  "  to  formulate,  in  Jeffer 
son's  Declaration  of  Independence,  and  definitely  establish  the 
great  political  truth  that  *  all  men  are  created  equal.'  We 
contributed  General  Washington,  whose  military  genius  was 
equaled  only  by  his  patriotism  and  wisdom.  We  contributed 
Benjamin  Franklin,  who  brought  the  lightning  from  heaven 
into  the  service  of  man.  We  invented  and  made  the  first  prac 
tical  use  of  steam  navigation  on  inland  waters,  and  sent  the 
first  steam-propelled  vessel  across  the  Atlantic  Ocean.  Our 
Morse  invented  and  first  operated  the  magnetic  telegraph,  and 
our  Field  first  conceived  and  realized  the  idea  of  binding  two 
continents  together  by  a  cable.  We  invented  the  steam  plough, 
the  steam  reaper,  the  sewing  machine,  the  typesetter,  the  type 
writer — in  a  word  nearly  every  modern  mechanism  of  real 
practical  utility.  But,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  have  reserved 
our  greatest  national  achievement  till  the  last.  We  have  in 
vented  and  perfected  the  American  woman,  a  creature  as 
unique  as  she  is  beautiful,  who  has  dazzled  the  drawing  rooms 
of  the  Old  World." 

In  consequence  of  these  remarks,  I  was  called  upon  the 
same  evening  by  two  ladies,  who  requested  me  to  attend  the 
ball  given  by  the  English,  French,  and  Swiss  ladies  of  Lucerne, 
all  of  whom  desired,  they  said,  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
a  gentleman  who  had  spoken  so  highly  of  their  American 
cousins. 

In  the  Presidential  Campaign  of  1888  I  made  a  good- 
natured  reply  at  White  Plains  to  a  speech  upon  the  tariff  de 
livered  by  Hon.  Chauncey  M.  Depew  at  Poughkeepsie  a  short 
time  before,  and  created  no  little  merriment  by  attacking  Mr 
Depew  with  his  own  weapons. 

Senator  Thurman,   the   Democratic  nominee   for  the  Vice- 


370  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Presidency  in  this  campaign,  was  addicted  to  snuff-taking  and 
this  habit  subjected  him  to  most  violent  paroxyms  of  sneezing 
which  put  the  red  bandanna  handkerchief  he  always  carried 
very  much  in  evidence.  Hence  the  adoption  by  his  followers 
of  the  bandanna  handkerchief  as  a  campaign  banner. 

One  day,  while  Thurman  was  addressing  the  Senate,  a  new 
member  from  the  West,  who  sat  near  him,  fell  asleep.  Shortly 
after,  in  the  very  middle  of  his  speech,  the  speaker  was  seized 
with  one  of  his  irresistible  sneezing  attacks.  The  terrible  de 
tonations  aroused  the  slumberer,  who  at  once  grabbed  the 
swivel  chair  in  front  of  him  and  began  to  twist  it  round  in 
the  most  energetic  fashion,  to  the  great  consternation  of  its 
occupant.  The  new  Senator,  it  seems,  had  once  been  a  brake- 
man  on  a  Western  railroad  and,  being  only  half  awake,  mis 
took  the  noise  that  had  startled  him  for  the  signal  of  the 
engineer  to  put  on  the  brakes. 

Senator  Thurman  was  at  once  one  of  the  most  popular  and 
one  of  the  most  respected  members  of  the  Senate.  He  was  a 
typical  old-fashioned  Democrat  of  culture,  judgment,  and  in 
fluence.  It  was  delightful  to  observe  the  courteous  friendli 
ness  which  Senator  Thurman  and  Senator  Sumner  displayed 
towards  each  other  when  they  discussed  the  classics,  of  which 
they  were  both  great  students. 

May  i,  1889,  I  delivered  an  address  before  the  Church  Club 
upon  the  political  and  social  obligations  of  churchmen ;  and 
on  Jackson  Day  of  the  same  year,  I  spoke  on  "  Tariff  Reform  " 
at  the  banquet  of  the  Business  Men's  Democratic  Club  of  New 
York  City,  which  had  participated  actively  in  the  campaigns 
of  1884  and  1888.  On  Jackson  Day  of  the  following  year  I 
again  spoke  before  the  same  organization,  in  response  to  the 
toast,  "  Business  Men  in  Politics."  In  the  course  of  my  re 
marks  I  paid  my  respects  to  both  Samuel  J.  Randall  and  Gov. 
Hill.  I  declared  in  plain  English  that  the  defeat  of  Grover 
Cleveland  at  the  recent  Presidential  election  must  be  laid  upon 
the  shoulders  of  Governor  Hill,  who  sought  to  save  himself 
and  was  willing  to  do  so  at  the  expense  of  the  Presidential 
candidate ;  and  I  stated  with  equal  plainness  that  it  was  to  the 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  371 

obstructive  course  in  Congress  of  Mr.  Randall,  who  posed  as 
a  Democrat,  that  we  were  indebted  for  the  defeat  of  the 
important,  and  indeed  vital,  measures  of  the  Democratic 
Party. 

My  outspokenness  on  this  occasion  naturally  caused  a  sensa 
tion  and  gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  discussion.  The  New 
York  Times  of  the  next  morning  contained  the  following: 

"  THE  TALK  OF  THE  TOWN 
"  COL.  LATHERS'  ATTACK  ON  BOGUS  DEMOCRATS 

"  Col.  Richard  Lathers,  whose  stinging  excoriation  of  Gov. 
Hill  and  Samuel  J.  Randall  at  the  Andrew  Jackson  dinner  on 
Wednesday  night  has  made  the  partisans  of  these  two  peculiar 
Democrats  wince  and  squirm  with  pain  ever  since,  is  a  typical 
Andrew  Jackson  Democrat. 

"  Around  the  Exchanges,  where  most  of  the  men  who  at 
tended  the  Jackson  dinner  are  wont  to  watch  the  fractional 
fluctuations  of  market  quotations,  Col.  Lathers'  speech  was 
freely  commented  on  yesterday.  The  Hill  men  said  it  had 
spoiled  their  enjoyment  of  the  dinner.  The  anti-Hill  men 
said  that  it  was  the  best  thing  of  the  evening.  All  agreed 
that  Col.  Lathers  had  displayed  great  self-possession  in  stand 
ing  up  among  a  body  of  '  mixed  Democrats '  and  condemning 
the  course  pursued  by  the  man  supported  by  a  portion  of  his 
hearers. 

"  Col.  Lathers  never  had  the  reputation  among  his  business 
associates  of  mincing  his  words.  It  was,  therefore,  expected 
that  his  remarks  would  not  be  of  an  empty  nature,  but  nobody 
expected  that  he  would  handle  what  he  regards  as  crying 
evils  in  his  party  with  such  stern  frankness.  What  is  most 
regretted  by  the  friends  of  Col.  Lathers  is  that  in  some  way 
there  was  whispered  about  on  the  day  of  the  banquet  a  rumor 
that  he  would  pay  his  respects  to  the  Governor,  and  that  that 
rumor  reached  Mr.  Hill's  ears  in  time  for  him  to  decline  an 
invitation  to  be  present  and  speak,  which  he  had  previously 
accepted  with  grateful  fervor.  There  were  those  charitable 


372   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

enough  to  believe  that  Gov.  Hill,  as  he  stated  in  his  telegram, 
had  met  with  '  unexpected  engagements '  which  prevented 
him  from  leaving  Albany.  All  had  faith  in  the  Governor's 
sincerity  when  he  said :  '  I  trust  the  entertainment  will  be  a 
pleasant  one.'  It  was  freely  said  that  there  would  have  been 
more  entertainment  if  Col.  Lathers  had  had  the  Governor's 
mobile  countenance  to  gaze  upon  and  draw  inspiration  from 
as  he  spoke." 

At  the  banquet  in  honor  of  the  twentieth  anniversary  of  the 
Lotos  Club,  March  21,  1890,  I  spoke,  in  reply  to  Col.  Ingersoll, 
in  defense  of  religion. 

The  following  December,  my  home  at  New  Rochelle  was 
honored  by  the  presence  of  "  The  Daughter  of  the  Con 
federacy." 

"  Col.  and  Mrs.  Lathers,"  said  the  New  Rochelle  Press  of 
Dec.  24,  "  entertained  Miss  Winnie  Davis,  daughter  of  Hon. 
Jefferson  Davis,  and  a  few  Southern  friends  at  Winyah  Park 
on  Wednesday  to  luncheon.  Among  the  guests  were  Hon. 
David  Dudley  Field,  Ex-Postmaster-General  Thomas  L. 
James,  Col.  Garnett,  Colonel  Chisholm,  and  Mr.  George  Lee, 
of  Virginia. 

"  It  affords  us  pleasure  to  note  social  attentions  of  this  kind 
towards  our  Southern  friends,  especially  when  they  are  repre 
sented  by  a  young  lady  of  so  much  cultivation  and  loveliness. 
It  may  not  be  generally  known  that  Miss  Davis's  mother  was 
a  Northern  lady  to  whom  she  refers  with  becoming  pride. 
During  the  Civil  War  it  was  esteemed  loyal  and  patriotic  to 
denounce  and  arm  against  every  element,  individual  or  or 
ganized,  arrayed  against  the  Union.  But  now,  when  the  Union 
is  recognized  and  its  power  demonstrated  in  every  quarter,  it 
is  clearly  patriotic  and  manly  to  forget  the  civil  strife,  which 
carried  into  armed  resistance  many  a  good  Southern  man, 
who  was  misled  by  an  exaggeration  of  the  State  Rights  prin 
ciple.  Mr.  Davis  was  a  victim  of  this  heresy,  and  has  severely 
felt  the  consequences.  One  cannot  but  feel  a  certain  degree 
of  sympathy  for  a  man  who  served  the  country  as  a  Cabinet 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  373 

officer,  and  as  a  Senator,  with  ability  and  integrity,  and  who 
displayed  great  bravery  as  an  officer  in  our  army  during  the 
Mexican  War." 

A  few  short  years  later  all  Southerners  and  many  sympa 
thetic  Northerners  were  called  upon  to  mourn  the  demise  of 
this  beautiful  and  accomplished  woman. 

About  the  year  1891  I  built  a  plain  but  commodious  sum 
mer  house  at  Twilight  Park,  near  Haines  Falls  in  the  Catskill 
Mountains,  and  called  it  Chicora  Cottage;  Chicora  being  the 
name  given  by  the  early  Spanish  explorers  to  that  section  of 
the  Atlantic  coast  where  Charleston  and  Fort  Sumter  now 
stand — because  they  fancied  that  the  word  represented  the 
sweet  note  of  the  mocking  bird  (chi-co-ra). 

During  the  eighties  a  few  New  York  and  Brooklyn  gentle 
men  formed  an  association,  of  which  Gen.  Wingate  was  made 
President,  purchased  a  picturesque  tract  of  land  in  the  Cats- 
kills,  named  it  Twilight  Park,  supplied  it  with  water,  and 
divided  it  into  lots  of  moderate  size  on  which  some  sixty  or 
seventy  neat  cottages  and  three  clubhouses  (at  which  the 
cottagers  may  take  their  meals)  have  since  been  erected. 

On  Sunday  evenings  in  summer  the  cottagers,  their  guests, 
and  the  residents  of  the  district  adjacent  to  the  Park,  assemble 
at  Chicora  Cottage  to  sing  the  hymns  of  their  various  churches 
for  an  hour  and,  in  closing,  our  National  hymn,  "  America." 

Some  time  since  I  received  a  visit  in  the  Catskills  from  my 
old  and  beloved  friend,  Judge  Richard  O'Gorman. 

It  was  in  part  because  Judge  O'Gorman  was  always  dealing 
in  a  subtle,  inferential  kind  of  wit  and  in  part  because  he 
expressed  in  simple  and  refined  language  the  poetical  ideas 
that  thronged  his  brain,  that  he  was  given  the  title  of  "  the 
silver-tongued  O'Gorman." 

Judge  O'Gorman  was  one  of  the  most  respected  of  the 
judges  of  our  bench,  a  capacity  in  which  he  served  until  retired 
by  age  under  the  constitutional  limitation.  He  had  passed  un 
stained,  as  Corporation  Counsel,  through  the  corruption  of  the 
Tweed  regime.  While  he  occupied  this  position  he  was  ap 
proached  by  an  unscrupulous  Commission  with  the  request 


374  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

that  he  sanction  or  overlook  a  proposed  fraud  which  would 
naturally  come  under  his  observation.  When  he  declined 
promptly  and  indignantly,  he  was  threatened  indirectly  with  a 
reduction  of  his  salary.  He  replied  that  he  could  submit  to 
such  a  reduction,  that  it  might  even  be  that  his  compensation 
was  in  excess  of  his  services,  but  that  he  could  not  degrade 
his  office  (and  himself)  by  condoning  a  fraud  to  retain  it. 

Richard  O'Gorman  came  to  New  York  from  Ireland  about 
the  same  time  that  I  came  to  New  York  from  the  South,  and 
he  quickly  became  popular  in  New  York  society  by  reason  of 
his  wit,  his  refinement,  and  his  grace  of  person — for  he  was 
unusually  handsome.  The  brilliant  young  Irish  patriot  was 
in  great  demand  as  a  lecturer  upon  literary  topics,  and  received 
an  invitation,  which  he  accepted,  to  deliver  a  lecture  upon 
Goldsmith  before  a  literary  club  of  Troy.  After  the  lecture, 
the  Treasurer  of  the  club  handed  Mr.  O'Gorman  the  usual  fee 
of  $300.  Mr.  O'Gorman  refused  it  on  the  ground  that  he  never 
accepted  compensation  for  services  of  that  kind.  The  Treas 
urer  insisted,  explaining  that  such  a  precedent  would  embarrass 
the  club  in  its  dealings  with  other  lecturers ;  but,  finally,  find 
ing  him  politely  firm  in  his  refusal,  suggested  as  a  compromise 
that  the  money  be  turned  over  to  some  charitable  object  of 
Mr.  O'Gorman's  choice.  To  this  Mr.  O'Gorman  readily  as 
sented.  "  I  accept  your  suggestion,"  he  said,  "  and  propose 
(as  you  are  kind  enough  to  appreciate  my  lecture  and  are 
thus  in  sympathy  with  the  memory  of  Goldsmith)  that  you 
give  the  $300  to  two  refined  old  spinsters  living  in  Jersey 
City  in  straitened  circumstances ;  they  are  grandnieces  of 
Oliver  Goldsmith."  The  club  undertook  the  mission  and 
were  so  much  pleased  with  the  dignity  of  the  old  ladies  that 
they  put  them  on  their  list  of  beneficiaries  for  life. 

In  May,  1892,  learning  that  Miss  Lee,  daughter  of  General 
Robert  E.  Lee,  was  visiting  New  York,  I  determined  to  give 
a  reception  in  her  honor.  I  accordingly  sent  out  cards  to  my 
friends  without  taking  any  account  of  their  political  or  sec 
tional  affiliations.  Happening  into  the  Lincoln  Bank,  of  which 
Ex-Postmaster-General  James  is  President,  I  fell  into  con- 


RICHARD  O'GORMAN 
From  a  photograph  taken  by  Hargrave  about  1895 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  375 

versation  with  Gen.  James,  who  remarked  that  he  and  Mrs. 
James  appreciated  highly  the  invitation  to  meet  the  daughter 
of  Gen.  Lee  and  would  cancel  all  other  engagements  in  order 
to  be  present.  "  I  hope,"  he  added,  "  you  have  sent  an  in 
vitation  to  Mrs.  Grant."  I  replied  that  I  had  had  the  pleasure 
of  General  Grant's  acquaintance,  but  that  I  had  never  met 
Mrs.  Grant.  "  Then,  address  a  letter  to  me,"  he  said,  "  ex 
pressing  a  desire  to  have  her  present  at  your  reception  to  meet 
the  daughter  of  her  husband's  great  military  adversary,  whom 
he  treated  with  such  chivalrous  consideration  on  the  occasion 
of  his  surrender." 

I  wrote  a  letter  such  as  General  James  suggested,  intimating 
therein  that  the  presence  of  Mrs.  Grant  at  a  reception  to  Miss 
Lee  would  be  in  beautiful  accord  with  the  noble  example  set 
by  Gen.  Grant.  Mrs.  Grant  immediately  took  her  carriage 
and  called  on  Gen.  James.  She  explained  to  him  that  she  had 
abstained  from  visits  of  every  kind  since  the  death  of  her  hus 
band,  but  expressed  a  desire  to  keep  my  letter  as  a  valued 
tribute  to  his  memory7,  and  promised  that,  if  Col.  Lathers  would 
send  invitations  to  her  son  and  daughter,  they  would  be  happy 
to  attend. 

The  reception  occurred  as  planned  and  the  guests  were 
deeply  moved  by  this  graceful  evidence  that  the  "  bloody 
chasm  "  had  at  last  been  bridged.  I  append  herewith  a  brief 
newspaper  notice  of  this  happy  event : 

"  A  reception  was  held  at  the  city  residence  of  Colonel 
Richard  Lathers,  No.  248  Central  Park  West,  yesterday  after 
noon,  that  expressed  in  an  appropriate  and  touching  manner 
the  kindly  feeling  existing  between  the  North  and  South. 
Miss  Mary  Custis  Lee,  a  descendant  of  Martha  Washington, 
and  a  daughter  of  Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  arrived  in  this  city 
last  week  from  Bermuda,  and,  as  the  widow  of  General  Grant 
and  her  daughter-in-law  were  in  town,  Col.  Lathers  took  the 
opportunity  of  bringing  these  representative  women  of  the 
North  and  South  together  in  an  informal  and  quiet  way.  Mrs. 
Grant  was  unable  to  attend,  being  still  in  deep  mourning,  but 


376  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

her  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  Frederick  D.  Grant,  was  present  as 
her  representative  and  completed  the  graceful  ceremony  by 
greeting  the  daughter  of  the  great  soldier  of  the  South  in  the 
name  of  the  great  soldier  of  the  North.  A  handsomely  framed 
portrait  of  General  Lee  was  draped  for  the  occasion,  while 
an  excellent  likeness  of  Miss  Lee  painted  on  glass  for  Col. 
Lathers  in  Florence,  Italy,  was  exhibited.  Among  those  pres 
ent  were  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Frederick  D.  Grant,  Ex-Postmaster- 
General  James  and  Mrs.  James,  David  Dudley  Field,  Freder 
ick  R.  Coudert,  Rev.  and  Mrs.  Townsend,  Judge  Roger  A. 
Pryor  and  Mrs.  Pryor,  Col.  and  Mrs.  Trenholm,  Captain  and 
Mrs.  Garden,  Wilson  G.  Hunt,  John  T.  Agnew,  Judge  and 
Mrs.  O'Gorman,  Judge  Robert  A.  Van  Wyck  and  Mrs.  Van 
Wyck,  Gen.  Horace  Porter,  Everett  J.  Wheeler,  Mr.  and 
Mrs.  Mayo  (of  Richmond)." 

In  the  summer  of  1893  I  received  a  letter  from  the  able 
economist,  Prof.  Perry  of  Williams  College,  for  whom  I  en 
tertained  great  respect  because  of  his  consistent  and  persist 
ent  advocacy  of  Free  Trade  in  a  High  Tariff  community.  This 
letter  is  so  characteristic  of  the  man  and  throws  so  much  light 
on  the  underhanded  maneuvers  of  a  certain  class  of  "  stand 
patters,"  that  I  feel  justified  in  giving  it  to  the  public  not 
withstanding  the  personalities  it  contains : 

"  WILLIAMS  COLLEGE,  July  9th,  1893. 
"  COL.  LATHERS, 

"  My  Dear  Sir: — I  am  much  obliged  to  you  for  your  kind 
letter  received  this  morning.  I  hardly  think  it  is  worth  your 
while  to  notice  the  '  Protest '  to  which  you  refer,  so  feeble  is 
it  numerically  and  in  every  other  point  of  view.  There  is  not 
force  enough  in  it  to  do  me  or  the  cause  any  good  by  way 
of  reaction.  There  are  fourteen  signers,  but  five  of  these  are 
not  graduates  of  the  College  at  all,  and  were  never  in  attend 
ance  on  the  College,  and  as  far  as  I  know  never  gave  a  penny 
to  the  College  or  exerted  a  particle  of  influence  in  its  behalf. 
I  do  not  even  know  the  residence  of  one  of  them.  Neither 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  377 

does  our  Alumni  Address  Book  give  the  residence  certainly 
of  '  S.  S.  Melon/  though  he  is  a  graduate.  He  formerly  lived 
either  in  Ala.  or  Miss.,  we  do  not  know  which.  Of  the  re 
maining  eight  graduates,  only  three  were  ever  under  my  in 
struction;  Fitch,  '58,  now  of  Jefferson,  O.  (neighbor  of  Ely, 
'48,  of  Cleveland,  the  sole  originator  of  the  protest,  for  rea 
sons  I  will  give  you  in  a  moment)  ;  Barton,  '66,  New  York, 
a  merchant,  I  believe;  and  Hubbell,  '74,  a  young  lawyer  of 
New  York.  These  men  are  as  obscure,  I  should  think,  as  it 
is  possible  for  college  graduates  to  be.  Of  the  remaining  five 
signers,  Knowlson  was  and  (I  think)  is,  a  wool  dealer  of  Troy, 
who  failed  very  badly  a  few  years  ago.  He  is  a  very  pleasant 
gentleman,  but  carries  no  weight  in  any  direction ;  Hoyt,  late 
Gov.  of  Penn.,  who  speaks  hoarse  through  a  whisky  throat,  was 
only  here  in  College  about  a  year  in  1849,  an<^  *s  a  Pennsylva- 
nian ;  Dewey  is  a  police  justice  in  Milford,  Mass.,  of  excellent 
ancestry,  but  I  presume  he  could  not  tell,  to  save  his  life,  the 
origin  of  the  term  '  tariff,'  or  the  real  nature  of  the  thing 
*  tariff  ' ;  Laselle  of  Whitsunville,  Mass.,  is  a  very  good  man 
indeed,  a  practical  manufacturer,  and  one  whose  name  on 
this  paper  is  heavier  than  all  the  rest  put  together ;  and  Ely,  of 
Cleveland,  O.,  a  man  interested  in  the  iron  and  steel  monopo 
lies,  and  who  has  engineered  this  petty  and  contemptible  move 
ment  out  of  spite  for  me  personally,  because  a  number  of  years 
ago  he  appointed  himself  a  censor,  and  came  into  my  study 
without  an  invitation  to  browbeat  me,  having  the  manners  of 
an  overseer  or  one  of  the  Penn.  iron  lords.  He  talked  two 
hours  and  '  gave  himself  away,'  and  his  cause  so  completely 
in  that  time,  that  I  then  turned  upon  him  savagely  and  gave 
him  such  a  dressing  down  for  the  greed  and  plundering  of  his 
system,  virtually  confessed  in  his  own  talk,  that  he  has  borne 
me  a  grudge  for  my  plain  speaking  ever  since,  and  has  tried 
to  do  this  same  thing  before.  His  failure  is  laughable.  There 
were  nearly  three  hundred  graduates  of  the  college  on  the 
ground  last  week ;  he  got  eight  besides  himself  to  sign  his 
paper,  but  more  than  a  third  of  his  signers  were  '  strangers 
and  aliens.' 


378  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  The  College  is  thoroughly  committed  to  Free  Trade  with 
out  any  reference  to  me  one  way  or  the  other.  It  gave  John 
Bright  an  LL.  D.  in  1875.  Bryant,  the  most  honored  name 
upon  its  catalogue,  was  the  first  President  of  the  A.  M.  F.  T. 
League,  and  one  of  his  last  public  utterances  was  '  I  have  been 
fifty  years  in  the  service,  and  have  never  wearied  of  it.'  The 
second  President  of  the  same  was  D.  D.  Field,  the  greatest 
lawyer  ever  graduated  here.  The  present  President  is  D.  A. 
Wells,  the  only  graduate  of  the  college  who  has  ever  taken 
D.  C.  L.  at  Oxford  University.  My  own  position  is  impreg- 
nably  strong.  The  Trustees  and  the  Faculty,  though  not  gen 
erally  free  traders,  are  unanimously  for  me  as  a  Professor  and 
a  man.  I  could  not  ask  for  anything  better  in  any  respect, 
and  so  long  as  the  breath  is  in  my  body  I  shall  voice  the 
wrongs  and  losses  of  God's  poor  under  a  wretched  system  of 
spoliation. 

"  My  answer  to  all  this  will  come  in  about  two  weeks  in  a 
new  and  splendid  edition  of  my  book,  of  which  you  will  re 
ceive  an  early  copy. 

"  Very  kindly, 

"A.  L.  PERRY." 

In  1894  I  prepared  and  delivered  before  the  Borcella  Club 
of  New  Rochelle  a  series  of  lectures  on  art,  the  first  of  which 
was  afterwards  printed  in  a  pamphlet  of  fifty  pages.  As  a 
young  man  I  had  painted  somewhat  myself  en  amateur,  and  I 
had  always  taken  great  delight  in  collecting  works  of  art  and  in 
discussing  art  questions  with  artists — especially  with  Daniel 
Huntington  and  Edward  Moran,  with  whose  achievements  and 
ideals  I  was  profoundly  in  sympathy. 

Edward  Moran,  who  was  born  in  England  in  1829,  dis 
played  artistic  talent  at  a  very  early  age  and  produced  credit 
able  work  when  he  was  only  nine,  under  the  guidance  of  a 
French  art-decorator.  While  still  a  boy,  he  came  to  this 
country  with  his  parents  who  settled  in  Maryland,  where  he 
was  put  to  work  in  a  factory.  This  drudging  factory  life 
soon  palled  on  him  and,  one  day,  he  collected  his  belongings 


i 


C     o    o 


( 

-o   £  i: 


. 

rt     rt     C 


rt  c 

V-       <L>      <U 

sag 

o  "      S. 

"7^     ^  •     3-1 


0     O 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  379 

and  went  to  Philadelphia — walking  the  entire  distance.  In 
Philadelphia,  he  worked  first  for  a  cabinet  maker,  then  for  a 
bronzer  and  house  painter  and,  finally  (on  the  advice  of  two 
artists  with  whom  he  had  become  friendly),  he  took  a  studio 
in  Callowhill  Street  and  devoted  himself  to  his  art.  After  a 
fairly  successful  career  in  Philadelphia,  he  came  to  New  York, 
where  enterprise  and  talent  always  make  their  mark,  and  now, 
at  a  ripe  age,  he  is  enjoying  the  reward  of  the  arduous  labors  of 
his  early  manhood. 

The  year  1896  was  marked  by  the  celebration  of  our  Golden 
Wedding,  but  as  a  special  volume  devoted  to  that  event  has  been 
printed  I  will  limit  myself  to  quoting  a  part  of  the  account  of 
the  ceremony  which  appeared  in  the  New  York  Tribune  the 
next  day : 

"A    NOTABLE    GOLDEN    WEDDING 

"  COLONEL   AND    MRS.    LATHERS    RECEIVE    THEIR    FRIENDS 

"  The  doors  of  the  town  house  of  Colonel  Richard  Lathers, 
No.  248  Central  Park  West,  were  thrown  open  to  his  friends 
from  4  to  7  p.  m.  yesterday,  in  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  an 
niversary  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Lathers's  wedding  day.  Al 
though  many  of  the  invited  guests  pass  the  summer  out  of 
town,  the  reception  rooms  were  crowded  with  500  people, 
who  had  taken  the  opportunity  to  congratulate  Colonel  and 
Mrs.  Lathers  upon  the  occasion. 

"  The  rooms  were  decorated  with  yellow  roses  and  daisies, 
and  Colonel  Lathers's  rare  collection  of  paintings  and  engrav 
ings  added  to  the  attractiveness  of  the  surroundings.  Among 
the  collection  may  be  noted  original  works  of  La  Volpe,  Joseph 
Vernet,  Story,  T.  A.  Richards,  and  Emmons,  as  well  as  Edward 
Moran's  Centennial  picture  of  New  York  Harbor,  and  a  por 
trait  of  Colonel  Lathers  painted  by  Huntington  a  quarter  of 
a  century  ago.  There  are  also  engravings  of  the  works  of 
Albert  Durer  (1507),  Panini,  Watson  (1750),  Le  Brun,  Hamil 
ton,  Bartolozzi,  Turner,  Simmons  and  Landseer.  Two  notable 
pieces  of  statuary  were  placed  in  the  parlors,  '  The  Lost  Pleiad/ 


380  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Randolph  Rodgers's  last  work,  for  which  General  Scott's 
daughter  was  the  model,  and  '  Judith,'  by  Tadolini,  of  Rome, 
which  was  originally  executed  for  the  Italian  Government,  but 
was  purchased  by  Colonel  Lathers.  A  well-known  Italian 
countess  posed  for  this  work.  Two  rare  and  beautiful  Sevres 
tables,  which  were  the  property  of  Louis  Philippe,  and  were 
abandoned  by  him  after  his  abdication  of  the  French  throne, 
were  also  on  exhibition.  They  represent,  respectively,  authen 
tic  portraits  of  Henri  IV  and  the  beauties  of  his  court,  and  of 
Louis  XVI  and  his  court  ladies,  the  miniature  portraits  being 
copies  of  the  originals  in  the  Louvre. 

"  Among  the  most  interesting  pieces  on  exhibition  was  a 
handsomely  framed  collection  of  pictures,  selected  for  the  oc 
casion,  which  represented  portraits  of  Colonel  and  Mrs.  Lathers 
taken  before  their  marriage,  their  portraits  of  a  few  years 
ago,  portraits  of  their  children,  pictures  of  the  house  in  New 
Rochelle  where  the  young  couple  began  their  married  life, 
of  the  Colonel's  present  home  at  New  Rochelle,  Winyah  Park ; 
pictures  of  the  houses  at  Pittsfield,  Mass.,  and  at  Charles 
ton,  S.  C,  where  he  entertained  distinguished  Northern  and 
Confederate  soldiers ;  Chicora  cottage  in  the  Catskills,  and 
the  churches  of  which  he  was  many  years  warden — Trinity 
Church,  New  Rochelle,  and  the  church  at  Georgetown,  S.  C. 
The  plain  white  silk  dress  in  which  Mrs.  Lathers  was  married 
was  also  exhibited " 

The  nomination  of  Bryan  for  the  Presidency  by  the  Dem 
ocratic  Convention  of  1896  was  a  great  shock  to  me,  and  it 
was  absolutely  impossible  for  me  to  give  the  ticket  my  sup 
port.  The  following  letter  which  I  sent  in  July  to  the  Chair 
man  of  the  Election  Committee  of  Westchester  County  explains 
sufficiently  my  position : 

"  C.  H.  NIXON. 

"  Dear  Sir: — I  have  just  received  a  copy  of  the  Westches 
ter  Tribune,  in  which  it  is  announced  that  I  have  been  ap 
pointed,  as  usual,  a  member  of  an  Election  Committee  for  the 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  381 

support  of  Bryan  and  Sewall,  the  nominees  of  the  late  Chi 
cago  Convention.  I  hereby  decline,  with  all  respect  to  the  old 
Party  friends  appointing  me,  as  I  am  utterly  opposed  to  the 
candidates  and  to  the  populistic  and  disorganizing  Anti-Demo 
cratic  platform  which  they  are  pledged  to  support. 

"  I  have  been  for  fifty  years  in  Westchester  County  and 
New  York  City,  an  active  supporter  of  the  Democratic  prin 
ciples  and  measures  of  Jefferson  and  Jackson,  the  founders  of 
our  Party,  and  I  am  too  proud  of  my  Party  and  personal  rec 
ords  to  have  them  sullied. 

"  I  am  not  disposed  for  the  sake  of  nominal  fealty  to  my 
Party  to  contribute  to  its  destruction  and  to  the  overthrow  of 
our  conservative  institutions  by  such  ignorant  anarchists  as 
Tillman  and  Altgeld,  who  have  lately  sprung  into  power  by 
sectional  and  populistic  appeals  to  the  ignorant  and  unthink 
ing  portions  of  the  South  and  West. 

"  I  propose,  therefore,  at  the  coming  election  to  support  the 
federal  nominations  and  platform  of  the  Republican  Party 
and  to  support  such  candidates  for  Congress  of  either  party 
as  are  pledged  for  sound  money,  and  have  a  fair  chance  of  suc 
cess.  In  all  else,  I  will  support,  as  I  have  during  a  lifetime, 
the  Democracy.  Democracy  being  a  principle,  as  well  as  a 
Party,  is  best  served  by  maintaining  its  purity  even  at  the 
expense  of  facing  a  minority. 

"  Very  truly  yours, 

"  RICHARD  LATHERS." 

August  19,  I  gave  at  Twilight  Park,  by  request  of  the  ladies 
of  the  Colony,  a  talk  exposing  the  fallacy  of  the  Free  Silver 
proposition  to  a  mixed  audience  containing  a  number  of  dis 
tinguished  men — among  them  Rev.  Dr.  G.  W.  Smith,  Presi 
dent  of  Trinity  College,  Hartford,  and  Bishop  Andrews  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  New  York. 

May  i,  1897,  I  again  addressed  the  New  York  Church  Club 
at  its  anniversary  banquet  on  "  The  Duty  of  Churchmen  to  the 
State,"  practically  the  same  subject  as  that  upon  which  I  had 
addressed  it  eight  years  before — a  subject  to  which  interven- 


382   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

ing  events  had  given  point.  This  address  and  the  address  of 
1889  having  been  printed  together  in  pamphlet  form,  I  need 
only  say  here  that  I  urged  upon  the  club  a  more  useful  and 
practical  line  of  church  work  than  it  had  undertaken  hitherto, 
and  the  admission  of  clergymen  to  its  membership,  and  in 
sisted  that  the  time  had  come  for  the  church  to  exert  its  in 
fluence  for  the  preservation  of  the  purity  of  the  government 
under  which  we  live. 

My  interest  in  this  vital  subject  induced  me  about  this 
time  to  donate  to  Williams  College  a  fund  the  income  of 
which  should  be  used  for  a  gold  medal  to  be  awarded  an 
nually  to  that  member  of  the  Senior  class  who  should  hand  in 
the  best  essay  on  "  The  Duty  of  Christians  to  Government." 
One  of  the  conditions  I  imposed  was  that  the  prize  essay  be 
published  in  two  prominent  journals  "  in  order  to  insure  an 
annual  discussion  of  an  important  subject,  under  the  sanc 
tion  of  one  of  our  educational  and  religious  institutions." 

In  the  latter  part  of  May,  1897,  I  was  elected  an  honorary 
member  of  Flandreau  Post,  509  (New  Rochelle)  G.  A.  R., 
a  distinction  which  I  accepted  with  pride  and  gratitude. 

The  unrighteous  Spanish-American  War  was  almost  as 
great  a  shock  to  me  in  one  way  as  the  nomination  of  Bryan 
had  been  in  another.  I  protested  publicly  against  the  resolu 
tions  of  the  Hundredth  Annual  Conference  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church  indorsing  the  villainy,  and  I  published  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "  A  Letter  on  the  Social  and  Political  Deg 
radation  of  the  Times,"  in  which  I  criticised  severely  this 
and  several  other  radical  departures  from  the  traditional  policy 
of  our  people. 

The  Springfield  Republican  referred  to  my  pamphlet  as 
follows : 

"THE     TIMES     ARE     OUT     OF     JOINT 

"  The  venerable  Col.  Richard  Lathers,  who  will  be  recalled 
by  many  Berkshire  people  as  a  former  resident  of  Pittsfield, 
continues  to  be  a  shrewd  observer  of  public  affairs  from  the 
retirement  of  his  suburban  home,  near  New  York.  He  has 


MEN    AND    MANNERS  383 

lately  had  printed  a  pamphlet  entitled  '  A  letter  on  the  social 
and  political  degradation  of  the  times,  its  cause  and  remedy.' 
The  publication  was  prompted  by  some  remarks  in  the  Church 
man,  calling  attention  to  the  growing  hostility  of  European 
sentiment  to  the  typical  American  character  which  has  doubled 
in  volume  and  ferocity  since  the  Spanish  war,  and  which  should 
not  be  lightly  treated,  as  it  is  by  the  people  and  the  press. 
For,  observes  the  Churchman,  it  has  always  been  a  matter 
of  great  importance  to  a  nation  how  it  is  regarded  by  its 
neighbors. 

"  First,  says  Col.  Lathers,  we  must  candidly  admit  the  ex 
istence  of  these  evils  and  weaknesses  which  afford  examples 
for  animadversion  in  social  or  political  life  at  home  or  abroad, 
and  then  try  to  correct  them.  Col.  Lathers  has  traveled  much 
abroad,  and  had  ample  opportunity  to  observe  the  ways  of  his 
countrymen  there.  He  admits  with  shame  that  Europeans 
are  quite  justified  in  their  criticisms  of  the  class  of  Americans 
with  which  they  most  come  in  contact.  These  are  the  rich 
parvenus  who  take  up  their  abodes  in  the  principal  cities  and 
live  extravagantly,  while  offering  the  fortunes  of  their  daugh 
ters  for  husbands  to  such  of  the  nobility  as  need  American 
money  to  repair  their  fortunes.  Indeed,  he  remarks,  the  great 
social  prize  for  our  parvenu  families  and  their  heirs  and 
daughters  appears  to  be  a  visit  from  the  Prince  of  Wales 
and  an  invitation  to  the  Queen's  drawing-room  receptions,  the 
passion  for  which  is  the  great  annoyance  of  our  Minister  in 
London.  This  passion  for  even  an  humble  connection  with 
the  aristocracy  of  Europe  extends  to  and  is  merged  in  politics. 
Our  own  Boss  Croker  in  his  race-horse  connection  with  the 
Prince  of  Wales  can  only  afford  Tammany  Hall  a  visit  of  a 
few  weeks  occasionally  to  return  among  us  to  regulate  and 
direct  the  municipal  affairs  of  Greater  New  York. 

"  The  thought  of  Boss  Croker  naturally  leads  Col.  Lathers 
to  a  consideration  of  the  political  demoralization  existing  in 
municipal  and  national  government  at  home.  Almost  every 
leading  statesman  from  both  parties,  he  complains,  has  been 
driven  out  of  responsible  official  life  and  from  representative 


384  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

offices.  With  few  exceptions,  from  alderman  to  United  States 
Senator,  we  are  creatures  of  political  bosses,  of  machine  leaders, 
as  ignorant  as  they  are  rapacious.  Purity  of  administration 
was  formerly  secured,  he  says,  by  means  of  faithful  attend 
ance  on  party  caucuses  and  nominating  conventions  of  the 
respective  parties,  as  well  as  by  voting  at  the  polls.  This  full 
discharge  of  citizenship  promoted  a  degree  of  honesty  and 
good-will  even  in  hostile  contests,  and  largely  counteracted  the 
influence  of  demagogues  and  professional  office-seekers,  and 
there  is  no  substitute  for  personal  effort  in  a  democratic  re 
public.  This  pregnant  conclusion  Col.  Lathers  drives  vigor 
ously  home  with  amplifying  illustration  and  argument." 

This  pamphlet  evoked  from  my  old  friend,  Rev.  Theodore 
Cuyler,  D.  D.,  the  following  ardent  letter.  It  would  have 
been  every  way  worth  while  if  it  had  done  nothing  more : 

"  176  OXFORD  ST.,  BROOKLYN,  Oct.   i,  '98. 

"My  Dear  Old  Friend: — Amen!  and  Amen!  to  every  line 
of  your  pungent  and  powerful  pamphlet! 

"  It  ought  to  go  on  wings  of  the  press  into  every  house— 
and  heart — in  the  land. 

'  This  war  is  none  for  '  humanity  ' — but  in  results — for 
land-grabbing  has  brought  us  no  glory  and  involves  us  in  num 
berless  perils. 

"  What  a  Senate  also !  to  settle  the  many  problems ! 

"  Oh  for  one  hour  of  Abraham  Lincoln ! 

"I  write  in  haste — as  I  am  just  off  to  preach  to  the  students 
of  Princeton  University. 

"  I  am  my  dear  Colonel, 

"  Yours  heartily, 

"THEO.  L.  CUYLER." 


CHAPTER  XIV 

THE    EVENING    OF    LIFE 

JUNE  29,  1899,  owing  to  my  increasing  age,  which  condemned 
me  to  relative  inactivity,  I  resigned  my  membership  in  the 
Lotos  Club,  which  I  had  joined  soon  after  its  foundation  and 
of  which  I  had  been  a  member  for  twenty-one  years ;  but, 
at  the  urgent  request  of  the  Club,  I  withdrew  my  resigna 
tion  and  allowed  my  name  to  be  put  on  the  non-resident  list. 

Although  I  have  been  at  one  time  or  another  a  member 
of  several  clubs  (including  the  Reform,  Twilight,  Union,  and 
Manhattan)  and  of  many  societies,  (literary,  artistic,  mili 
tary,  philanthropic,  economic,  and  scientific)  the  club  relation 
which  has  afforded  me  the  most  social  and  intellectual  grati 
fication  has  been  that  with  the  Lotos. 

The  Lotos  Club  was  organized  and  chartered  in  1870,  its 
object  being  (to  quote  the  language  of  its  historian,  Mr.  John 
Elderkin)  "  to  cultivate  the  social  intercourse  of  the  musical 
and  dramatic  professions  and  such  merchants  and  profes 
sional  gentlemen  of  artistic  tastes  and  inclinations  as  would 
naturally  be  attracted  to  such  a  club." 

The  initiation  fee  was  placed  at  $20,  raised  later  to  $50, 
and,  still  later,  as  the  membership  increased,  to  an  equality 
with  that  of  the  other  important  clubs  of  the  city.  At  its  first 
meeting,  every  member,  it  has  been  jocularly  remarked,  was 
elected  to  an  office.  Its  present  members,  and  those  who 
have  visited  its  sumptuous  quarters  on  Fifth  Avenue,  will  be 
amused  to  learn  that,  in  the  beginning,  the  members  were 
obliged  to  sit  around  on  camp  stools  and  such  empty  candle 
and  soap  boxes  as  the  steward  was  able  to  procure  at  short 
notice.  But  this  lack  of  luxury  did  not  prevent  these  early 
meetings  from  being  occasions  of  the  greatest  good  cheer. 

Among  the  original  members  and  early  Presidents  of  the 

385 


386  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Lotos  was  the  Hon.  A.  Oakey  Hall,  who  did  so  much  for  it 
financially  and  socially  that  he  has  been  very  properly  called 
"  the  father  of  the  Club."  Mr.  Hall  was  a  leader  in  Tammany 
Hall  and  the  most  astute  politician  of  his  time.  His  capacity 
and  popularity  were  so  great  that  he  could  count  on  an  un 
limited  tenure  of  any  public  office  he  was  willing  to  accept. 
He  served  as  Attorney-general  and,  subsequently,  as  Mayor 
of  the  City  with  great  acceptance  to  all  parties  in  spite  of 
his  political  connection  with  Tweed  and  his  corrupt  ring. 
After  the  exposure  of  Tweed,  Mr.  Hall  demanded  an  inves 
tigation  of  his  administration  as  Mayor,  and  was  pronounced 
innocent  of  all  participation  in  the  Tweed  frauds.  But  he 
was  so  mortified  by  his  unfortunate  connection  with  the  scandal, 
and  so  exhausted  by  the  ordeal  through  which  he  had  passed, 
that  he  left  New  York  and  went  to  London,  where  his  talents 
and  the  high  reputation  of  the  New  York  law  firm  to  which 
he  belonged  gave  him  ready  access  to  the  courts.  He  became 
an  editor  of  the  London,  and  later,  of  the  Paris,  edition  of 
the  New  York  Herald,  which  his  friend  James  Gordon  Ben 
nett  owned.  He  was  restless,  however,  as  men  of  his  bril 
liancy  and  versatility  are  apt  to  be,  and  he  finally  drifted 
back  to  New  York,  utterly  without  means,  and  eked  out  a 
precarious  living  there  by  furnishing  the  papers,  at  starva 
tion  rates,  with  essays  and  reminiscences.  He  died  suddenly 
without  even  letting  his  friends  know  how  much  he  needed 
assistance.  I  passed  a  few  hours  with  him  at  the  Lotos  Club 
one  day  talking  over  old  times  and  was  inexpressibly  shocked 
the  next  day  to  hear  of  his  death  and  the  necessity  of  raising 
money  for  his  funeral.  He  had  been  too  proud  to  make  his 
condition  known. 

Hon.  Whitelaw  Reid,  also  an  original  member,  was  the 
President  of  the  Lotos  at  the  time  I  became  a  member,  and 
filled  that  position  for  some  thirteen  years,  during  which  it 
acquired  its  peculiar  reputation  for  hospitality  to  visiting  ce 
lebrities,  among  whom  may  be  mentioned  Thackeray,  Dickens, 
Froude,  Lord  Houghton,  Tupper,  Count  de  Lesseps,  Henry 
Irving,  Editor  Sala,  Bartholdi,  Sir  Edwin  Arnold,  Gilbert  and 


€. 


COLONEL   RICHARD   LATHERS 
Reproduced  from  a  photograph  by  Bogarduts,  taken  late  in  life. 


THE    EVENING   OF   LIFE  387 

Sullivan,  Dean  Stanley,  Prof.  Proctor,  Wilkie  Collins,  Dean 
Hole,  Dean  Kingsley,  Edwin  Yates,  and  Harry  Furness. 

The  last  banquet  I  was  able  to  attend — in  the  spring  of  1892 
— was  given  in  honor  of  Whitelaw  Reid  on  his  return  to 
America  after  serving  his  country  as  Ambassador  to  France. 
It  was  the  largest  and  most  brilliant  banquet  the  Club  had 
given  up  to  that  time,  and  the  pre-eminence  of  America  in 
the  art  of  post-prandial  oratory  was  demonstrated  anew.  In 
fact,  the  just  reputations  of  Gen.  Horace  Porter  and  Chauncey 
M.  Depew  as  after-dinner  speakers  were  largely  made  at  the 
banquets  of  the  Lotos. 

The  late  Col.  Thomas  W.  Knox  (another  original  member) 
was  my  sponsor  at  the  Lotos  and  my  almost  constant  com 
panion  there.  In  fact,  between  Col.  Knox  and  myself  there 
was  an  attachment  so  strong  and  singular  that  it  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  Club. 

Col.  Knox  was  a  confirmed  bachelor,  agnostic,  a  New  Eng 
land  Abolitionist,  a  loyal  member  of  the  Union  League  Club, 
and  an  ultra-Protectionist ;  while  I  was  a  married  man,  a 
churchman,  a  Southern  Pro-Slavery  man,  and  a  Free  Trade 
Democrat  connected  with  Tammany  Hall.  And  yet,  notwith 
standing  our  mutually  antagonistic  views  and  in  spite  of  the  fact 
that  we  discussed  freely  and  fully  the  very  subjects  upon  which 
we  differed  most,  we  were  never  estranged  for  a  moment 
thereby. 

We  occupied  for  seventeen  years  contiguous  rooms  at  the 
Club  (for  I,  as  a  suburban  and  country  resident,  found  it 
convenient  to  keep  a  room  there)  and  we  breakfasted  and 
lunched  together,  at  our  joint  expense,  practically  every  day 
when  one  or  the  other  was  not  absent  from  the  city — our 
last  luncheon  together  occurring  only  two  days  before  Col. 
Knox's  sudden  death ;  and  our  personal  respect  and,  perhaps, 
love,  for  each  other  condoned  opinions  and  habits  which 
might  otherwise  have  led  to  difficulties. 

Our  luncheon  was  usually  selected  by  Col.  Knox,  and  was 
divided,  even  down  to  the  fruit,  with  great  exactness,  for 
Col.  Knox  was  exceedingly  scrupulous  in  such  matters.  It 


388  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

was,  as  a  rule,  very  simple,  and,  although  neither  of  us  was 
what  is  called  "  a  temperance  man,"  was  rarely  accompanied 
by  wine.  The  cordiality  of  our  relations  may  be  judged  from 
the  following  letter,  brief  as  it  is,  which  Col.  Knox  sent  me 
while  we  were  both  in  Europe : 

"ZURICH,  SUISSE,  July  26,  1881. 

"  My  Dear  Colonel: — Received  your  letter  on  my  arrival 
in  Paris,  but  was  so  '  done  up '  with  the  heat  that  I  could  not 
venture  on  anything  which  could  possibly  be  delayed.  De 
voted  all  my  energies  to  keeping  cool,  but  with  only  partial 
success. 

"  Here  I  am  in  Switzerland.  Cannot  give  you  any  better 
address  than  my  bankers,  Drexel,  Harjes  &  Co.,  31  Boulevard 
Haussmann,  Paris,  as  I  only  stay  a  day  or  two  in  a  place — 
or  a  few  days  at  farthest — and  my  movements  are  uncertain. 
Shall  fetch  around  at  Paris  about  Aug.  25th  and  stay  there 
till  Sept.  2d.  I  sail  from  Havre  Sept.  3d. 

"  If  we  don't  manage  to  meet  here,  we  have  a  good  chance 
of  it  at  the  old  Lotos  in  the  autumn,  where  we  will  talk  over 
the  summer's  campaign  and  recount  our  marvelous  adventures 
by  flood  and  field. 

"  Believe  me  as  ever, 

"  Sincerely  yours, 

'  "  THOS.  W.  KNOX." 

The  Philadelphia  Press  of  July  6,  1900,  contained  the  fol 
lowing  apropos  of  the  action  taken  by  the  Democratic  Nomi 
nating  Convention  at  Kansas  City : 

"  NEW  YORK,  July  5. — There  is  something  in  the  tone  of 
voice,  the  bewildered,  anxious  look  and  the  utterances  of  men 
who  have  been  known  for  years  as  conservative  and  con 
sistent  Democrats,  when  they  speak  of  the  proceedings  at  Kan 
sas  City,  which  excites  pity  or  sympathy.  They  are  bemoaning 
what  seems  to  them  to  be  the  humiliation  and  demoralization 
of  the  party  with  which  they  were  once  proud  to  be  associated 
as  members. 


THE    EVENING    OF    LIFE  389 

"  Colonel  Lathers  this  morning  said  that  he  could  not  look 
upon  the  gathering  at  Kansas  City  as  a  representative  Demo 
cratic  body.  To  him  it  seemed  more  like  a  respectable  mob, 
respectable  in  the  sense  that  it  was  not  violent  or  of  law-break 
ing  disposition.  But  to  him  it  illustrated  the  demoralization 
and  pitiable  end  to  which  the  Democratic  Party  had  come  as 
a  result  of  its  willingness  to  consort  with  Populism. 

'  This  convention  does  not  represent  the  purposes,  the 
patriotism  or  the  influences  that  dominate  intelligent,  con 
servative  and  reasonable  Democrats.'  These  were  Colonel 
Lathers'  words,  and  he  added  that  for  that  reason,  he  could  not 
be  expected  to  support,  and  he  did  not  see  how  any  other  con 
servative  Democrat  could  be  for  an  instant  tempted  to  support 
the  candidates  and  the  platform  of  the  Kansas  City  Convention. 
In  speaking  of  the  address  made  by  Governor  Thomas,  of 
Colorado,  who  was  temporary  Chairman  of  the  Convention, 
Col.  Lathers  called  attention  to  the  fallacy,  as  he  alleged, 
which  it  contained  in  one  of  the  most  plausible  of  its  para 
graphs. 

"  He  did  it  as  an  illustration  of  the  illogical  thinking,  and 
of  the  crude  inaccuracy  of  statement  which  he  asserts  char 
acterizes  so  much  of  the  utterances  of  those  who  have  been 
brought  forward  as  subordinate  leaders  under  the  chief  leader 
ship  of  Bryan. 

"  MANHATTAN." 

I  do  not  recall  having  been  "  interviewed  "  by  "  Manhat 
tan,"  the  intelligent  correspondent  of  the  Press;  but  he 
stated  fairly  the  views  of  the  conservative  members  of  the 
party  of  Jefferson,  Jackson,  and  Cleveland,  and  I  am  quite 
willing  to  let  these  views  stand  as  my  own. 

Fealty  to  principle  leaves  no  room  for  compromise.  Noth 
ing  is  to  be  gained  by  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  self-con 
stituted  bosses,  who  acquire  their  power  in  a  party  by  ignoring 
or  overriding  the  fundamental  principles  of  that  party.  It 
was  not  wholly  nor  even  mainly  the  bi-metal  theory  of  Mr. 
Bryan  and  his  following  that  prevented  old  Democrats  from 


390  REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 

co-operating  with  them,  but  the  absolute  dishonesty  of  pur 
pose  for  which  it  stood — a  social  and  political  sin  which  no 
genuine  old-time  Democrat  could  countenance  for  an  instant. 

August  15  of  this  same  year  I  was  appointed  a  Vice-Presi- 
dent  of  the  Charleston  Exposition — an  appointment  which  I 
accepted  in  a  letter  commending  Charlestonians  for  making 
a  serious  effort  at  last  to  restore  to  old  Charleston  some 
measure  of  its  whilom  prosperity  and  prestige. 

William  M.  Evarts,  to  whom  I  have  had  frequent  occasion 
to  refer  in  these  notes,  died  on  the  first  of  March,  1901. 

I  became  acquainted  with  Mr.  Evarts  while  organizing,  in 
the  year  1854,  the  Great  Western  Insurance  Company,  of 
which  he  became  the  counsel  and  a  director.  He  was  a  most 
judicious  adviser  as  to  the  general  policy  of  the  Company, 
and  always  recommended  the  greatest  liberality  in  the  settle 
ment  of  losses.  Indeed,  the  Great  Western  practically  intro 
duced  the  now  prevalent  custom  of  paying  immediately  the 
losses  about  whose  legality  there  could  be  no  reasonable  doubt, 
and  of  considering  with  liberality  those  that  were  equitable 
even  if  they  were  not  covered  by  the  policy.  This  attitude 
rendered  the  Company  exceedingly  popular,  and  I  cannot  recall 
a  single  defense  by  the  Company  against  the  suit  of  any  policy- 
holder  during  the  fifteen  years  I  was  connected  with  it. 

During  my  first  visit  to  London,  I  called  upon  a  noted 
lawyer  to  have  a  large  trust  fund  deed  of  some  $600,000 
drawn  up  for  a  guarantee  fund  in  Europe  against  losses  pay 
able  by  the  Great  Western  in  London.  I  experienced  some 
delay  (unusual  in  our  New  York  law  offices)  in  gaining  ac 
cess  to  the  lawyer,  whom  I  had  met  frequently  at  dinners  and 
other  social  functions,  and  I  complained  accordingly.  The 
lawyer  remonstrated :  "  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  your 
distinguished  friend,  Mr.  Evarts,  can  grant  an  interview  at 
any  time  he  is  called  upon?  How  can  he  find  opportunity 
to  prepare  his  great  cases  ?  "  I  explained  that  on  such  occa 
sions  he  did  not  appear  at  his  office,  but  used  the  library  at 
his  residence.  "  No  matter  how  he  makes  up  his  cases,  inter 
rupted  or  not,  he  is  a  wonderful  man,"  was  his  polite  re- 


THE    EVENING    OF    LIFE  391 

joinder.  "  Do  you  know,  Sir,  I  met  him  at  a  large  dinner 
party  of  distinguished  clergymen,  and  his  speech  on  the  Canon 
Law  perfectly  surprised  the  old  Bishops  there."  To  this,  wish 
ing  to  impress  on  the  Englishman  the  fact  that  Mr.  Evarts 
was  but  a  glorified  type  of  our  young  professional  men,  whose 
hard  study  gave  them,  like  Evarts,  rather  a  cadaverous  and 
aged  look,  I  replied,  "  Perhaps  you  do  not  know  that  the 
students  in  our  colleges  are  not  expected  to  spend  their  time 
verifying  Euclid  or  making  Greek  verses,  and  that  their  free 
dom  from  these  tasks  gives  them  time  to  pursue  practical 
studies.  Had  you  met  Mr.  Evarts  at  an  engineers'  dinner, 
you  would  have  had  from  him  an  exhaustive  address  on 
mechanics."  The  English  barrister,  who  was  a  graduate  of 
Oxford,  replied,  "  Do  you  know,  I  think  your  American  col 
leges  are  right  ?  " 

With  all  his  learning,  profundity,  and  conscientious  thor 
oughness,  Mr.  Evarts  was  a  great  wit. 

When  the  Committee  from  the  Taxpayers'  Convention,  of 
which  I  was  a  member,  visited  Washington,  we  called  upon 
Mr.  Evarts  and  laid  before  him  in  detail  the  robberies  com 
mitted  by  the  negroes  and  carpet-baggers  in  the  Legislature 
of  South  Carolina.  One  of  our  number  said,  "  Mr.  Evarts, 
if  you  were  to  go  into  the  present  Legislative  Hall,  you  would 
be  driven  out  by  the  intolerable  stench  of  that  unclean  body." 
Mr.  Evarts  laughingly  replied, 

"  So  they  are  like  the  poet's  roses, 
'  They  steal  and  give  odors.'  " 

Gen.  Butler  never  forgave  Mr.  Evarts  his  reply  to  his 
bumptious  and  boisterous  arraignment  of  Johnson.  When  the 
General  had  ceased  gesticulating  and  vociferating,  Mr.  Evarts 
remarked  in  his  quiet  way  that  there  were  two  forms  of  argu 
ment — discussion  and  concussion.  A  distinguished  Union 
Commander  in  the  Civil  War  being  desirous  of  capturing  Fort 
Fisher  had  filled  a  vessel  with  explosives,  anchored  it  near 
that  fortification,  set  fire  to  it  and  caused  a  fearful  and  noisy 
explosion.  This  gallant  commander  expected  to  find,  when 


392   REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

the  smoke  cleared  away,  that  the  Rebel  fortification  and  its 
defenders  had  been  blown  skyhigh;  but,  to  his  mortification, 
the  fort  stood  as  firm  as  ever.  That  was  concussion.  This 
General's  experiment  with  concussion  having  failed  at  Fort 
Fisher,  he  was  trying  it  on  the  Senate ! 

I  might  fill  pages  with  instances  of  Mr.  Evarts'  faculty  for 
turning  the  arguments  of  his  opponents  into  ridicule.  But 
I  will  limit  myself  to  his  reply  to  George  S.  Boutwell  of 
Massachusetts,  in  the  Johnson  impeachment  trial,  one  of  the 
many  great  trials  in  which  he  played  a  leading  part. 

"  Travelers  and  astronomers  inform  us,"  said  Mr.  Bout- 
well,  in  his  peroration,  "  that  in  the  Southern  heavens,  near 
the  Southern  Cross,  there  is  a  vast  space  which  the  unedu 
cated  call  '  the  hole  in  the  sky,'  where  the  eye  of  man  with 
the  aid  of  the  powers  of  the  telescope,  has  been  unable  to 
discover  nebula,  or  asteroid,  or  comet,  or  planet,  or  star  or 
sun.  In  that  dreary,  cold,  dark  region  of  space,  which  is 
only  known  to  be  less  than  infinite  by  the  evidences  of  creation 
elsewhere,  the  Great  Author  of  the  celestial  mechanism  has  left 
the  chaos  which  was  in  the  beginning.  If  this  earth  were 
capable  of  the  sentiments  and  emotions  of  justice  and  virtue, 
which  in  human  mortal  beings  are  the  evidences  and  the 
pledge  of  our  divine  origin  and  immortal  destiny,  it  would 
heave  and  throw,  with  the  energy  of  the  elemental  forces  of 
nature,  and  project  this  enemy  of  two  races  of  men  into  that 
vast  region,  there  forever  to  exist  in  a  solitude  as  eternal  as 
life,  or  as  the  absence  of  life,  emblematical  of,  if  not  really, 
that  '  outer  darkness  '  of  which  the  Saviour  of  man  spoke  in 
warning  to  those  who  are  the  enemies  of  themselves,  of  their 
race,  and  of  their  God.  But  it  is  yours  to  relieve,  not  to 
punish.  This  done,  and  our  country  is  again  advanced  in  the 
intelligent  opinion  of  mankind.  In  other  governments  an  un 
faithful  ruler  can  be  removed  only  by  revolution,  violence,  or 
force.  The  proceeding  here  is  judicial,  and  according  to  the 
forms  of  law.  Your  judgment  will  be  enforced  without  the 
aid  of  a  policeman  or  a  soldier.  What  other  evidence  will  be 
needed  of  the  value  of  republican  institutions?  What  other 


THE    EVENING   OF    LIFE  393 

test  of  the  strength  and  vigor  of  our  government?  What 
other  assurance  that  the  virtue  of  the  people  is  equal  to  any 
emergency  of  national  life  ?  " 

In  reply,  Mr.  Evarts  said :  "  Indeed,  upon  my  soul,  I  be 
lieve  he  is  aware  of  an  astronomical  fact  which  many  profes 
sors  of  that  science  are  wholly  ignorant  of.  But  nevertheless, 
while  some  of  his  honorable  colleagues  were  paying  attention 
to  an  unoccupied  and  unappropriated  island  on  the  surface 
of  the  sea,  Mr.  Manager  Boutwell,  more  ambitious,  had  dis 
covered  an  untenanted  and  unappropriated  region  in  the  skies, 
reserved,  he  would  have  us  think,  in  the  final  councils  of  the 
Almighty,  as  the  place  of  punishment  for  convicted  and  de 
posed  American  presidents. 

"  At  first  I  thought  that  his  mind  had  become  so  '  enlarged  ' 
that  it  was  not  '  sharp  '  enough  to  discover  the  Constitution 
had  limited  the  punishment,  but  on  reflection,  I  saw  that  he 
was  as  legal  and  logical  as  he  was  ambitious  and  astronomical, 
for  the  Constitution  has  said  '  removal  from  office/  and  has 
put  no  limit  to  the  distance  of  the  removal ;  so  that  it  may  be, 
without  shedding  a  drop  of  his  blood,  or  taking  a  penny  of  his 
property,  or  confining  his  limbs,  instant  removal  from  office 
and  transportation  to  the  skies.  Truly,  this  is  a  great  under 
taking;  and  if  the  learned  manager  can  only  get  over  the  ob 
stacles  of  the  laws  of  nature,  the  Constitution  will  not  stand 
in  his  way.  He  can  contrive  no  method  but  that  of  a  con 
vulsion  of  the  earth  that  shall  project  the  deposed  President 
to  this  infinitely  distant  space ;  but  a  shock  of  nature  of  so  vast 
an  energy  and  for  so  great  a  result  on  him  might  unsettle  even 
the  footing  of  the  firm  Members  of  Congress.  We  certainly 
need  not  resort  to  so  perilous  a  method  as  that.  How  shall 
we  accomplish  it?  Why,  in  the  first  place,  nobody  knows 
where  that  space  is  but  the  learned  manager  himself,  and  he 
is  the  necessary  deputy  to  execute  the  judgment  of  the  Court. 

"  Let  it  then  be  provided  that  in  the  case  of  your  sentence 
of  deposition  and  removal  from  office,  the  honorable  and  as 
tronomical  manager  shall  take  into  his  hands  the  execution  of 
the  sentence.  With  the  President  made  fast  to  his  broad  and 


394  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

strong  shoulders,  and,  having  already  essayed  the  flight  by 
imagination,  better  prepared  than  anybody  else  to  execute  it 
in  form,  taking  the  advantage  of  ladders  as  far  as  ladders 
will  go  to  the  top  of  this  great  Capitol,  and  spurning  then 
with  his  foot  the  crest  of  Liberty,  let  him  set  out  upon  his 
flight,  while  the  two  houses  of  Congress  and  all  the  people 
of  the  United  States  shall  shout  '  Sic  itur  ad  astra.' 

"  But  here  a  distressing  doubt  strikes  me ;  how  will  the 
manager  get  back?  He  will  have  got  far  beyond  the  reach 
of  gravitation  to  restore  him,  and  so  ambitious  a  wing  as  his 
could  never  stoop  to  a  downward  flight.  Indeed,  as  he  passes 
through  the  constellations,  that  famous  question  of  Carlyle, 
by  which  he  derides  the  littleness  of  human  affairs  upon  the 
scale  of  the  measure  of  the  heavens,  '  What  thinks  Boeotes 
as  he  drives  his  dogs  up  the  zenith  in  their  race  of  siderial 
fire  ? '  will  force  itself  on  his  notice.  What,  indeed,  would 
Boeotes  think  of  this  new  constellation? 

"  Besides,  reaching  this  space,  beyond  the  power  of  Con 
gress  even  '  to  send  for  persons  and  papers,'  how  shall  he 
return,  and  how  decide  in  the  contest,  there  become  personal 
and  perpetual  the  struggle  of  strength  between  him  and  the 
President?  In  this  new  constellation,  thus  established  forever, 
who  shall  decide  which  is  the  sun  and  which  is  the  moon? 
Who  determine  the  only  scientific  test  which  reflects  the  hard 
est  upon  the  other  ?  " 

Although  possessed  of  great  public  spirit  and  an  intellectual 
leader  of  his  party,  Mr.  Evarts  was  but  an  indifferent  poli 
tician  so  far  as  his  own  interests  were  concerned. 

Thus  have  passed  away  in  my  time  without  receiving  the 
highest  office  in  the  gift  of  the  people  four  statesmen — Henry 
Clay,  John  C.  Calhoun,  Daniel  Webster,  and  Wm.  M.  Evarts— 
who  in  services  and  in  talents  were  head  and  shoulders  above 
their  fellow-legislators.  Is  this  Republic  ungrateful?  Or  is 
there  a  decadence  of  appreciation  among  us  of  public  talent 
and  service? 

As  I  have  already  related,  it  was  customary  for  the  cot 
tagers  of  Twilight  Park  and  the  guests  at  the  several  hotels 


THE    EVENING   OF   LIFE  395 

in  the  vicinity  to  assemble  every  Sunday  evening  during  the 
summer  in  Chicora  Cottage  to  sing  for  one  hour  the  psalms 
and  hymns  of  their  respective  churches.  September  the  I5th, 
1901,  was  the  last  evening  of  the  tenth  season  of  these 
gatherings. 

After  three  hymns  had  been  sung,  I  rose  and  said :  "  Ladies 
and  gentlemen,  to-night  closes  the  tenth  year  of  these  meetings. 
Before  we  separate,  I  desire  in  behalf  of  myself  and  my  family 
to  express  the  pleasure  they  have  given  us. 

"  Not  a  single  disagreeable  incident  has  occurred  to  mar 
our  harmony — a  remarkable  record  considering  the  number 
of  religious  denominations  here  represented. 

"  But  to-night  we  are  called  upon,  in  common  with  our 
whole  country,  to  mourn  the  loss,  by  wicked  assassination,  of 
our  beloved  President  and  to  contemplate  with  deep  humilia 
tion  an  atrocious  crime  which  disgraces  our  civilization  the 
more  than  it  has  recurred  three  times  within  thirty-six  years. 

"  President  Abraham  Lincoln  died  at  twenty-two  minutes 
after  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  Saturday,  April  I5th, 
1865.  He  was  shot  by  John  Wilkes  Booth. 

"  President  James  A.  Garfield  died  on  Monday,  September 
1 9th,  1 88 1,  at  thirty-five  minutes  after  ten  in  the  evening.  He 
was  shot  by  Charles  J.  Guiteau. 

"  President  William  McKinley  died  on  Saturday,  September 
1 4th,  1901,  at  fifteen  minutes  after  two  o'clock  in  the  morning. 
He  was  shot  by  Leon  Czolgosz. 

"  To  have  participated  in  these  three  national  sorrows  is 
one  of  the  penalties  of  my  long  and  active  life.  I  made  the 
address  before  the  Tammany  Society,  of  New  York,  in  1865 
on  the  death  of  President  Lincoln.  I  acted  as  one  of  the 
Committee  in  London,  which  organized  the  large  meeting  of 
Americans  and  Englishmen  on  the  occasion  of  the  death  of 
President  Garfield,  in  1881.  And  to-day  I  called  you  together 
to  listen  to  the  wise,  patriotic  and  pious  consolations  of  our 
distinguished  fellow-cottager,  the  Rt.  Rev.  Henry  Y.  Satterlee, 
Bishop  of  Washington,  in  this  our  great  national  and  personal 
affliction. 


396  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

"  But  the  Bishop  received  a  telegram  this  afternoon  peremp 
torily  calling  him  to  Washington  to  participate  officially  in 
the  arrangement  for  the  funeral  services  of  the  President. 

"  I  now  read  you,  therefore,  an  excellent  letter  from  the 
Bishop,  which  I  shall  follow  with  a  short  extract  from  the 
prayers  adapted  for  the  occasion  by  Bishop  Potter  of  this 
Diocese : 

' '  My  Dear  Colonel  Lathers: — I  have  just  received  word 
from  Washington  which  obliges  me  to  leave  on  to-night's 
boat.  To  my  deep  regret  this  will  prevent  my  coming  to  your 
house  to-night.  To  express  what  we  all  feel  so  deeply  in  these 
sad  days,  is  simply  impossible.  This  dumb  shaken  feeling 
which  pervades  the  country  brings  back  vividly  the  days  of 
the  assassination  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  Our  beloved  President 
will  ever  be  associated  with  that  martyr.  Their  lives  and 
works  were  different,  but  their  aim  was  the  same. 

"  '  Faithfully  yours, 

"  '  HENRY  Y.  SATTERLEE.' 

"  '  O  Almighty  God,  the  Supreme  Governor  of  all  things, 
whose  power  no  creature  is  able  to  resist,  to  whom  it  justly 
belongs  to  punish  sinners,  and  to  be  merciful  to  those  who 
truly  repent,  save  and  deliver  this  land,  we  beseech  Thee,  from 
all  false  teaching  and  from  all  secret  foes  and  grant  that  this, 
Thy  people,  being  armed  with  the  weapons  of  truth  and 
righteousness,  may  drive  far  hence  all  lawless  men  and  all 
treasonable  fellowships  and  so  preserve  the  heritage  of  their 
fathers  to  be  the  home  of  a  God-fearing  nation,  ever  doing  Thy 
holy  will,  to  the  glory  of  Thy  holy  name,  through  Jesus  Christ, 
Our  Lord.  Amen. 

'  O  merciful  God  and  Heavenly  Father,  who  hast  taught 
us  in  Thy  Holy  Word  that  Thou  dost  not  willingly  afflict  or 
grieve  the  children  of  men,  look  with  pity,  we  beseech  Thee, 
upon  the  sorrow  and  shame  of  our  common  country,  stained 
and  dishonored  by  the  murder  of  its  Chief  Magistrate.  Re 
member  us,  O  Lord,  in  mercy,  sanctify  this  sore  chastisement 


THE    EVENING   OF   LIFE  397 

to  our  greater  good ;  dispel  our  ignorance ;  arouse  us  from  our 
indifference,  enlighten  us  by  Thy  Holy  Spirit,  and  so  lift  up 
Thy  countenance  upon  us  and  give  us  peace.  Grant  to  her, 
who  by  this  sorrow  has  been  most  of  all  bereaved,  that  she, 
walking  by  faith,  may  see  Thy  light  in  all  her  darkness,  and 
at  last  having  served  Thee  with  constancy  on  earth,  may  be 
joined  hereafter  with  Thy  blessed  saints  in  glory  everlasting. 
Amen.' 

"  This  letter  and  this  prayer  are  far  more  appropriate  than 
anything  I  could  venture  to  say  on  this  painful  and  solemn 
occasion. 

"  And  now,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  neighbors  and  friends, 
in  deep  sympathy  with  you  and  with  the  country  in  its  be 
reavement,  I  bid  you  good-night." 


CHAPTER   XV 

LAST    REFLECTIONS 

IN  looking  backward  over  the  past  sixty  years,  I  have  no 
tenderer  memories,  barring  of  course,  those  connected  with 
my  family  life,  which  cannot  interest  the  public,  than  those 
connected  with  my  relations  with  the  church. 

I  am  the  great-grandson  of  the  Rev.  Richard  Dawson,  an 
English  rector  of  an  Irish  parish — a  kind  of  waif,  a  child  of 
the  church — and  I  have  been  connected  with  three  parishes, 
in  three  different  States  and  Dioceses,  whose  beginnings  reach 
back  beyond  the  foundation  of  our  national  government  itself. 

My  church  record  begins  as  a  pupil  in  the  Sunday  School  of 
the  parish  church  of  Prince  George  Winyah,  in  Georgetown, 
South  Carolina.  The  rector  at  that  time  was  the  Rev.  Paul 
Trapier  Keith,  lineal  descendant  of  the  Rev.  Alexander  Keith, 
who  was  despatched  to  Carolina  by  the  Lord  Bishop  of  Lon 
don  as  rector  of  this  same  church.  The  present  church  build 
ing  was  erected  in  1734  with  brick  sent  across  the  ocean  from 
England  for  the  purpose. 

In  due  time,  before  quite  reaching  my  majority,  I  became 
a  warden  of  the  church  and,  some  time  after,  Mr.  Keith  was 
called  to  old  St.  Michael's,  Charleston,  as  the  successor  of  his 
cousin,  the  Rev.  Paul  Trapier.  I  resigned  my  office  in  the 
Prince  George  vestry  on  my  removal  to  New  Rochelle,  where 
I  was  at  once  elected  a  warden  of  Trinity  Church  on  the 
nomination  of  my  friend,  Rev.  Thomas  W.  Coit.  Trinity 
was  an  old  Huguenot  church  which  conformed  and  received 
its  charter  as  an  Episcopal  Church  from  George  the  Third ; 
and  my  co-warden  at  Trinity  was,  curiously  enough,  the 
grandson  of  an  original  Huguenot  from  France.  Trinity  is 
among  the  most  thriving  of  our  country  parishes  and  I  am 
proud  of  my  association  of  over  half  a  century  with  it. 

398 


U 


LAST  REFLECTIONS  399 

As  warden  of  Trinity  Parish,  I  became  a  delegate  to  the 
Episcopal  Convention  of  the  New  York  Diocese  in  1849,  and 
have  served  in  that  capacity  in  every  annual  session  up  to  the 
present — except  when  prevented  by  absence  from  the  State, 
in  Europe  or  at  the  South — and  I  have  had  the  honor  of  en 
dorsing  the  credentials  of  three  of  our  Bishops.  I  have  wit 
nessed  the  steady  growth  of  our  Church  and  the  importance 
and  influence  of  its  Diocesan  councils  upon  the  social,  political, 
and  intellectual  movements  of  the  time.  Indeed,  the  Church, 
its  sacred  functions  quite  apart,  is  among  the  great  lights  of 
modern  civilization. 

One  of  the  principal  questions  to  be  passed  upon  by  this, 
my  first  Convention,  was  the  application  of  St.  Philip's  Church, 
a  colored  congregation,  for  the  admission  of  their  delegates 
to  seats  therein,  which  was  granted  by  a  large  majority.  The 
issue  had  been  debated  at  many  previous  sessions,  but  a  vote 
had  been  avoided  hitherto  by  resort  to  parliamentary  tactics. 
The  clergy,  as  a  body,  believed  that  the  agitation  for  the  ad 
mission  of  colored  delegates  was  prompted  by  political  rather 
than  by  ecclesiastical  motives,  but  they  could  not  conscien 
tiously  vote  for  exclusion.  The  colored  delegates  sat  alone 
in  their  pew,  and  were  barely  recognized  even  by  those  who 
had  been  their  most  ardent  advocates.  They  took  no  part  in 
the  proceedings  beyond  answering  to  their  names  when  called 
upon  to  vote.  Dr.  I.  McCune  Smith,  a  South  Carolinian,  the 
first  colored  man  ever  admitted  to  any  legislative  body  in  this 
country,  was  the  chairman  of  this  delegation. 

This  Convention  of  1849  was  a  most  remarkable  body.  The 
clerical  delegates  included  Dr.  Frank  Vinton,  Dr.  Seabury, 
Dr.  Hawks,  Dr.  Thomas  House  Taylor,  Dr.  Wainwright,  Dr. 
Horatio  Potter,  Dr.  Samuel  R.  Johnson,  Dr.  Gregory  Biddle, 
Dr.  Haight,  Dr.  Higbee,  Dr.  McVicar,  Dr.  Whitehouse,  Dr. 
Beeman,  Dr.  Anthony,  Dr.  Coit,  and  Dr.  Tyng ;  and  among  the 
lay-delegates  were  Luther  Bradish,  Julian  C.  Verplanck,  P.  S. 
VanRensselaer,  Floyd  Smith,  John  A.  Dix,  Horatio  Seymour, 
Stewart  Brown,  Frederick  de  Peyster,  Frederick  S.  Winston, 
Erastus  Brooks,  John  E.  Aspinwall,  W.  E.  Dunscome,  Thomas 


400  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Floyd  Jones,  Cyrus  Castor,  Murray  Hoffman,  I.  C.  Spencer, 
John  Jay,  Walter  R.  Jones,  Lewis  Morris,  George  L.  Buy- 
chisek,  John  A.  King,  and  Hamilton  Fish. 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Vinton  was,  for  several  years,  the  most 
prominent  clergyman  in  the  Diocese.  Indeed,  he  was  the  first 
choice  in  the  several  election  contests  for  the  Bishopric,  but, 
owing  to  more  or  less  jealousy  of  his  talents  on  the  part  of 
some  of  his  fellow-clergymen,  he  was  always  defeated.  I 
became  acquainted  with  Dr.  Vinton  and  his  lovely  wife,  in 
New  Orleans,  while  we  were  the  guests  there  of  a  mutual 
New  England  friend,  Mr.  Adams.  I  recall  the  Doctors  elo 
quent  and  profound  sermons,  which  so  delighted  the  Episco 
palians  of  New  Orleans  during  his  visit,  and  I  cannot  resist 
the  impulse  to  relate  a  striking  instance  of  womanly  considera 
tion  on  the  part  of  Mrs.  Vinton,  which  was  worthy  of  a  daugh 
ter  of  the  gallant  and  distinguished  Commodore  Perry.  The 
church  where  the  Doctor  preached  in  the  evening  was  some 
distance  from  Mr.  Adams'  house,  but  the  weather  being  fine, 
it  was  agreed  that  we  should  walk  thither.  Our  host,  having 
a  previous  engagement,  was  unable  to  accompany  us ;  so  his 
wife  was  escorted  by  the  Doctor,  and  Mrs.  Vinton  by  myself. 
After  walking  a  short  distance  in  close  proximity  to  the  Doctor 
and  Mrs.  Adams,  Mrs.  Vinton  remarked,  "  You  may  not  know 
that  Mrs.  Adams  is  an  old  New  England  sweetheart  of  the 
Doctor's.  He  has  not  met  her  in  many  years  until  our  visit 
here.  It  is  quite  natural  that  they  should  have  many  pleasant 
memories  to  recall,  and,  as  she  is  a  little  hard  of  hearing  and 
the  Doctor  will  have  to  converse  rather  audibly,  let  us  drop 
back  some  distance  so  they  may  talk  more  freely  of  the  bygone 
days." 

Dr.  Vinton  had  not  been  long  at  Trinity  Church,  New  York 
— whither  he  had  come  from  a  relatively  unimportant  Brooklyn 
parish — before  he  had  established  a  reputation  for  preaching 
profound  and  eloquent  sermons.  Indeed,  one  of  these  sermons, 
delivered  shortly  before  the  Secession  War,  was  considered 
by  many  the  fairest  and  most  scriptural  statement  of  the  rela 
tion  of  the  Church  to  the  institution  of  slaverv  that  had  ever 


LAST  REFLECTIONS  401 

been  made  at  the  North.  He  justified  slavery  as  a  paternal 
institution,  inherited  from  the  patriarchal  ages,  by  numerous 
quotations  and  inferences  from  both  the  Old  Testament  and 
the  New,  and  explained  that  the  harsher  features  of  slavery 
in  the  South  were  ameliorated  wherever  the  refining  influence 
of  the  Church  prevailed. 

During  the  Civil  War  I  invited  a  friend  to  whom  I  had  often 
quoted  passages  from  this  sermon  to  go  with  me  to  hear  Dr. 
Vinton  preach.  Imagine  my  surprise  when  the  Doctor,  in  his 
sermon  of  that  day,  ignoring  the  statements  and  arguments  of 
his  former  discourse,  asserted  that  slavery  had  not  only  been 
the  cause  of  disunion,  but  that  it  had  gradually  undermined 
the  civilization,  culture,  and  religion  of  the  South.  In  proof 
of  this  assertion  he  stated  that  in  his  youthful  days,  while  still 
a  student,  he  had  visited  Virginia,  and  found  there  a  high 
degree  of  social  and  religious  culture,  and  that  at  his  last 
visit,  after  a  lapse  of  twenty  years,  he  had  noticed  a  great  de 
terioration  in  these  respects. 

My  friend  remarked  that  the  Rev.  Doctor  had  "  gone  back 
on  himself,"  if  I  had  quoted  his  former  sermon  correctly.  I 
said,  "  No,  you  are  mistaken.  He  has  merely  omitted  his 
previous  theoretical  views,  but  has  truthfully  related  just  what 
he  observed  on  each  of  his  visits  to  Virginia.  You  must  un 
derstand  that  when  the  Doctor,  as  a  cadet  from  West  Point 
(where  he  associated  with  the  elite  of  the  South,  which  was 
largely  represented  in  that  school),  visited  the  South,  he  came 
into  contact  with  slaveholders  of  culture,  who  held  inherited 
slaves  solely  for  the  tilling  of  the  soil,  and  who  treated  them 
almost  like  members  of  the  family.  On  his  next  visit  he  was 
unfortunate  in  having  letters  of  introduction  to  a  class  of 
modern  slaveholders,  who  did  not  inherit  their  slaves  from 
family  estates  and  who  did  not  use  them  for  tilling  the  soil ; 
but  who  reared  them  mainly  for  sale  further  South,  where 
they  could  be  more  profitably  employed,  and  bought  and  sold 
them  like  cotton." 

Mrs.  Beecher  Stowe  was  imposed  upon  by  visiting  this  same 
class,  and  misled  the  public  accordingly. 


402  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Another  conspicuous  figure  in  the  New  York  Diocese  was 
Dr.  Stephen  H.  Tyng.  He  came  to  New  York  from  Phila 
delphia,  where  he  was  highly  esteemed  as  a  brilliant  orator,  a 
profound  sermonizer,  and  a  zealous  pastor.  He  had  low- 
church  leanings  theologically,  but  was  a  martinet  in  maintain 
ing  the  dignity  and  power  of  the  priesthood.  His  self-assertion, 
backed  by  his  unquestionable  ability,  rendered  him  unpop 
ular  with  the  would-be  leaders  in  church  politics,  while  his 
great  energy  in  connection  with  charitable  enterprises  and  his 
unaffected  piety  made  him  one  of  the  most  popular  of  our 
city  clergymen  with  the  general  public.  In  one  of  the  dio 
cesan  conventions,  soon  after  his  entrance  into  the  New  York 
Diocese,  a  leading  clerical  member  interrupted  a  speech  he 
was  making  before  he  had  had  time  to  explain  his  drift,  by 
remarking,  "  The  gentleman  has  misapprehended  the  question 
before  the  Convention."  Without  waiting  for  further  ex 
planation,  Dr.  Tyng  said,  "  Sit  down,  Sir !  When  Dr.  Tyng 
desires  to  debate  a  question  before  such  a  body  as  this,  he  has, 
he  hopes,  too  much  modesty  to  make  the  attempt  without  com 
prehending  the  question,  and  if  the  reverend  gentleman  will 
preserve  his  soul  with  patience,  and  exercise  the  same  modesty 
before  attempting  to  interrupt  a  speaker  in  an  untimely  manner, 
he  will  be  less  offensive." 

This  settled  the  status  of  Dr.  Tyng  in  the  Convention,  and 
insured  respect  for  him  throughout  the  Diocese. 

I  recall  another  instance  of  Dr.  Tyng's  masterfulness  in 
debate.  A  resolution  (in  the  interests  of  the  poorly  paid 
clergymen  of  the  country  parishes)  had  been  introduced  and 
well  received,  which  made  it  the  duty  of  the  senior  warden  to 
read  from  the  chancel  a  request  for  an  increase  of  salary  in 
order  to  relieve  the  rector  of  the  embarrassment  of  appealing 
to  his  congregation  himself.  No  objection  having  been  made, 
the  President  was  about  to  put  the  question,  when  Dr.  Tyng 
suddenly  arose.  He  said  that  the  ill-paid  country  clergymen 
were  often  unworthy  of  better  compensation ;  that  they  were 
lazy,  and  seemed  to  think  their  whole  duty  consisted  in  reading 
the  service  in  a  hum-drum  manner  and  preaching  common- 


LAST  REFLECTIONS  403 

place  sermons  on  worn-out  topics,  which  opened  neither  the 
hearts  nor  the  purses  of  their  hearers.  He  held  that  such  men 
were  of  no  value  to  their  parishes  or  to  the  Church  at  large, 
and  that  they  would  do  better  to  go  into  some  less  intellectual 
occupation  in  which  they  could  earn  a  living  and  leave  their 
parishes  open  to  young  men  who  had  energy  and  talent  to 
put  into  the  work  of  the  Master.  He  believed  that  the  congre 
gations  could  be  counted  on  to  take  care  of  godly  young  men 
of  that  stamp.  "  Besides,"  he  concluded,  "  I  object  to  laymen 
going  into  the  chancels  to  perform  the  functions  of  our  clergy. 
The  fact  is  my  vestry  could  not  produce  a  man  so  immodest 
as  to  attempt  that  service." 

As  a  result  of  this  vigorous  protest,  the  resolution  was 
overwhelmingly  defeated. 

While  Dr.  Tyng  was  delivering  a  lecture  on  Romanism  in 
Philadelphia,  the  celebrated  and  learned  Catholic  priest,  Dr. 
Piese  of  the  Barclay  Street  Church,  New  York,  interrupted 
him,  questioning  one  of  his  statements.  Dr.  Tyng  looked  at 
him  a  moment,  and  said  in  a  determined  voice,  "  Sit  down, 
Sir.  I  do  not  choose  to  have  the  current  of  my  address  inter 
fered  with.  I,  therefore,  withdraw  the  remark  for  future 
reference  should  you  desire  to  discuss  the  question  on  a  more 
timely  occasion."  It  was  believed  that  Dr.  Piese  was  sent 
down  to  Philadelphia  to  antagonize  and  draw  Dr.  Tyng  into 
debate. 

Dr.  Tyng  was  a  hard  and  enthusiastic  worker  in  his  parish. 
He  had  over  a  thousand  Sunday-school  scholars  and  was 
able  to  call  every  one  of  them  by  name,  and  he  often  con 
tinued  to  use  their  Christian  names  after  they  were  grown 
up.  He  always  addressed  Mrs.  Lathers  and  her  sisters 
thus. 

Dr.  Henry  C.  Potter,  the  present  Bishop  of  the  New  York 
Diocese,  whose  credentials  I  had  the  honor  of  endorsing,  is  a 
national  figure.  The  following  letter,  reciting  his  career,  which 
he  sent  me  in  response  to  an  urgent  request,  some  months 
back,  reveals  the  beautiful  spirit  of  Bishop  Potter  both  as  a 
churchman  and  a  citizen : 


404  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


"  DIOCESAN  HOUSE,  LAFAYETTE  PLACE, 

"  NEW  YORK,  July  7,  1900. 

"My  Dear  Colonel  Lathers: — With  every  wish  to  oblige 
you,  I  fear  I  can  command  the  time  to  do  so  only  in  a  brief 
way.  I  came  to  New  York  in  May,  1868,  as  Rector  of  Grace 
Church,  having  just  turned  thirty-three.  I  found  a  run-down, 
down-town  parish,  with  a  half  empty  Church,  wedded  to  old 
fashioned  methods,  and  dreading  innovations  of  any  kind.  My 
first  task  was  to  awaken  it  to  the  responsibilities  arising  out  of 
its  neighborhood  (a)  to  clerks  and  the  transient  classes,  (b) 
to  the  large  tenement  house  population  on  the  east  of  it,  and 
(c)  to  the  responsibilities  in  view  of  its  obligations  of  leader 
ship  as  a  historic  Church,  first,  to  the  two  larger  interests  of 
its  own  Communion,  and  then  the  higher  welfare  of  the  whole 
community.  To  this  end  I  built  Grace  Chapel  in  East  I4th 
Street  a  free  Church ;  Grace  Memorial  House  in  Fourth  Avenue 
for  work  among  the  children  of  working  people ;  a  Parish 
House  on  Broadway  north  of  Grace  Church ;  a  Chapel  and 
Sunday  School  building  on  the  south  side ;  organized  Clubs, 
Reading  Rooms,  Societies  for  caring  for  the  sick  and  strangers, 
&c.,  &c.  This  work  was  spread  over  some  15  years,  during 
which  I  succeeded  in  overcoming  the  prejudices  of  my  people 
against  night-services  and  free  seats,  and  had  this  ultra-ex 
clusive  fashionable  Church  crowded  on  week  nights,  with 
strangers,  and  a  center  of  influence  and  leading  among  '  all 
sorts  and  conditions  of  men.'  My  Episcopate  called  me  to 
other  tasks  and  widened  a  good  deal  my  horizon ;  but  I  came 
to  it  with  the  keen  conviction  that  the  Episcopal  Church  was 
not  merely  the  Church  of  a  privileged  class  or  Culte,  but  had 
a  message  and  a  welcome  for  all  classes  and  communities — 
the  laborer  as  well  as  the  employer,  the  Clerk  as  well  as  the 
Capitalist.  I  succeeded  in  carrying  through  our  Diocesan  Con 
vention  the  scheme  which  divided  the  Diocese  into  five  Arch 
deaconries — New  York,  Westchester,  Dutchess,  Orange,  and 


LAST  REFLECTIONS  405 

Richmond;   and  made  each  Archdeaconry   a  center  of   Mis 
sionary  authority  and  activity. 

"  In  New  York,  I  planted  the  Pro-Cathedral  in  Stanton 
Street,  connected  it  with  the  Community  House  in  which  young- 
laymen,  and  trained  women  reside  for  a  month  or  more  at  a  time 
and  work  among  the  tenement  house  population,  along  the 
lines  of  the  University  Settlement  idea.  Here  we  also  founded 
cooking  schools,  sewing  schools,  free  baths,  gymnasium,  a 
free  library,  &c.  Meantime,  I  took  up  the  extinct  shell  of  the 
Cathedral  plan,  rilled  up  the  Board  of  Trustees  with  able  men, 
and  called  on  my  fellow  citizens  and  fellow  Churchmen  to  help 
me.  How  nobly  they  have  done  so  you  know.  We  have  been 
enabled  to  secure  the  most  superb  site  in  any  city  in  the  modern 
world,  have  gathered  over  $2,000,000,  have  begun  services  in 
the  Crypt,  and  are  moving  on  to  the  completion  of  the  vast 
structure,  with  wholly  unexpected  rapidity,  and  with,  what  is 
best  of  all — the  hearty  sympathy  of  every  best  element  of  the 
Community. 

"  Of  my  work  as  a  citizen  you  are  quite  as  familiar  as  need 
be.  In  the  Diocesan  House,  we  organized,  some  years  ago, 
the  first  Voluntary  Board  of  Arbitration  in  this  country,  in 
cluding,  together  with  others,  both  the  employers  of  labor  and 
laborers  as  members.  I  have  been  privileged  to  arbitrate  some 
of  the  largest  strikes  in  the  country,  and  in  every  case  with 
successful  results.  As  you  know,  I  have  maintained  my  right, 
while  holding  that  the  Clergy  shall  stand  apart  from  official 
connections  with  political  organizations,  to  '  speak  my  mind  ' 
as  a  citizen,  and  have  done  so — and  that,  my  dear  Col.  Lathers, 
is  really  all  that  I  can  tell  you.  One  thing  I  think  may  with 
truth  be  said,  that  to-day  the  Bishop  of  New  York  belongs 
to  all  his  fellow  citizens  for  service,  and  that  of  whatever  creed, 
they  so  account  him — to  all  of  them  for  service,  and  to  none 
of  them  for  tribute. 

"  Believe  me,  my  dear  Colonel  Lathers, 
"  Very  faithfully  yours, 

"H.  C.  POTTER." 


406  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

Hardly  second  in  sacredness  to  my  memories  of  my  church 
relations  are  my  memories  of  the  social  occasions  through 
which  I  was  permitted  to  bring  the  estranged  of  the  two 
sections  of  our  country  together. 

About  an  equal  number  of  Union  and  Confederate  officers 
have  met  one  another,  since  the  War,  under  my  roof-tree  and 
have  reviewed  there  their  battles  and  their  tactics  in  the  freest 
and  kindliest  manner.  Of  the  Union  officers,  I  remember 
Robert  Anderson,  George  B.  McClellan,  Nelson  A.  Miles, 
Daniel  E.  Sickles,  Vogdes,  L.  P.  di  Cesnola,  John  A.  Dix, 
William  F.  Bartlett,  Irvin  McDowell,  Stewart,  Van  Vliet, 
and  Admiral  Ammen;  and  of  the  Confederate  officers,  Joseph 
E.  Johnston,  James  Chestnut,  J.  B.  Gordon,  J.  C.  Breckin- 
ridge,  M.  C.  Butler,  A.  R.  Lawton,  James  Connor,  Bonum, 
Gustavus  W.  Smith,  and  Mansfield  Lovell. 

It  is  to  me  a  thought  of  unspeakable  joy  that  I  have  been 
able  to  hear  Gen.  McDowell  of  the  Northern  Army  and  Gen. 
Bonum  and  Gen.  Chestnut  of  the  Confederate  Army  exchange 
reminiscences  of  the  War  and  discuss  with  genial  humor  at 
my  table,  in  Charleston,  over  their  Madeira,  the  tactics  of  Bull 
Run  and  other  battles.  In  my  Charleston  house,  Gen.  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  met  socially  Speaker  Randall  of  Pennsylvania. 
Governor  Seymour  of  New  York  and  Ex-Gov.  Clifford  of 
Massachusetts  met  Governor  Magrath  of  South  Carolina,  Ex- 
Gov.  Gordon  of  Georgia,  and  the  ex-Secretaries  of  the  Con 
federate  Treasury,  Trenholm  and  Memminger.  There,  also, 
the  venerable  William  Cullen  Bryant  met  the  Georgia  poet, 
James  R.  Randall. 

At  Abby  Lodge,  in  the  Berkshires,  I  entertained — as  far 
as  practicable  in  groups — the  celebrities  of  the  North  and 
South,  who,  slavery  and  secession  apart,  had  common  ideas 
or  common  aspirations :  Governor  Curtin,  the  War  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  Gov.  Orr,  the  War  Governor  of  South 
Carolina ;  Gen.  Mansfield  Lovell,  who  commanded  the  Con 
federate  forces  captured  by  Gen.  Butler  at  New  Orleans,  and 
Gen.  W.  H.  Bartlett,  the  gallant  Union  general  of  Massa- 


LAST  REFLECTIONS  407 

chusetts;  Samuel  Bowles,  editor  of  the  leading  Republican 
journal  of  New  England,  and  F.  W.  Dawson,  editor  of  the 
Charleston  News  and  Courier,  the  leading  conservative  Demo 
cratic  organ  of  the  South  after  the  War;  Rev.  Dr.  Irenaeus 
Prime,  editor  of  the  Observer,  the  Presbyterian  organ  of  New 
York,  Rev.  Dr.  Henry  M.  Field,  editor  of  the  Evangelist,  the 
Congregational  organ  of  New  York,  and  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Toomer 
Porter  and  Rev.  Dr.  Pinckney  of  South  Carolina;  Rev.  Dr. 
Moses  D.  Hoge,  the  distinguished  Virginia  divine  who  ran  the 
naval  blockade  to  England  in  order  to  procure  Bibles  for  the 
Confederate  Army,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Todd,  the  New  England  divine 
who  wrote  the  celebrated  Todd's  Manual ;  two  ex-Speakers 
of  the  House  of  Representatives,  Galusha  A.  Grow  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  James  Orr  of  South  Carolina ;  the  novelists,  Her 
mann  Melville  of  Massachusetts,  and  William  Gilmore  Simms 
of  South  Carolina ;  the  Rt.  Rev.  Thomas  Lynch,  Roman  Catho 
lic  Bishop  of  South  Carolina,  and  Rev.  Dr.  Paddock,  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Massachusetts. 

At  Winyah  Park,  New  Rochelle,  I  presented  Gen.  Hooker, 
of  the  Confederate  Army,  to  Judge  Pierpont,  our  minister  to 
England.  And  it  was  there  that  Miss  Winnie  Davis,  the 
accomplished  daughter  of  Jefferson  Davis,  met  such  eminent 
Northerners  and  Southerners  as  Hon.  David  Dudley  Field, 
Gen.  Joseph  James,  Wm.  M.  Evarts  and  Charles  O'Conor,  and 
Govs.  Hoffman,  Tilden,  Seymour,  and  Flower. 

Finally,  in  my  New  York  home,  I  had  the  crowning  satisfac 
tion  and  honor  of  presenting  Miss  Mary  Lee,  the  daughter  of 
Gen.  Robert  E.  Lee,  Commander-in-chief  of  the  Confederate 
forces,  to  the  daughter-in-law  of  Gen.  Ulysses  S.  Grant,  the 
Commander-in-chief  of  the  Union  forces. 

Alas,  most  of  these  persons,  like  most  of  the  persons  men 
tioned  in  these  reminiscences,  are  now  in  their  graves — for 
death  respects  neither  patriotism,  virtue,  nor  the  honors  of  this 
world. 

I  love  to  recall  these  occasions  of  social  reconciliation  be 
cause  they  bring  vividly  before  me  my  friends  of  both  sec- 


408  REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 

tions  and  because  they  are  a  welcome  relief  from  the  anxieties 
with  which  every  patriotic  heart  must  be  filled  by  the  present 
disorganized  and  threatening  state  of  our  public  affairs. 

"Let  fate  do  her  worst,  there  are  relics  of  joy, 
Bright  scenes  of  the  past  which  she  cannot  destroy, 
That  come  in  the  night-time  of  sorrow  and  care, 
And  bring  back  the  features  which  joy  used  to  wear. 
Long,  long  be  my  heart  with  such  memories  filled ! 
Like  the  vase  in  which  roses  have  once  been  distilled— 
You  may  break,  you  may  shatter  the  vase  if  you  will, 
But  the  scent  of  the  roses  will  hang  round  it  still." 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abby  Lodge,  326-331,  406-407. 
Academy  of  Music,  Meetings  at, 

72-73,  181-183. 
Ackerman,     Attorney     General, 

293-295- 
Adams,     Charles     Francis,     198, 

209,  210,  211,  213,  332-333- 
Adams,  John,   105. 
Adams,  John   Quincy,  28. 
Adams,   Mr.,  400. 
Adams,  Mrs.,  400. 
"  Address  "  to  the  South  adopted 

by    the    Pine    Street    Meeting, 

I02-IIO. 

Adee,  Mr.,  47. 
Adger,    James,    349. 
Agnew,  John  T.,  336,  376. 
Aiken,  William,  121,  322. 
Albani,   Mme.,  47. 
Alexis,  Grand  Duke,  47. 
Allen,  Charles  R,  282,  283. 
Allen,    John,   66. 
Allen,  Mr.,  331. 
Allen,  Thomas,  330-331. 
Allston,  John  Ash,  8. 
Allston,  John  H.,  8. 
Allston,   Joseph,   9. 
Allston,   Pinckney,  8. 
Allston,   Robert   F.   W.,   8. 
Allston,    Washington,    8,    9. 
Altgeld,    Gov.,  381. 
Ammen,    Admiral,    406. 
Anderson,  Robert,  57,  348,  406. 
Andrew,  John  A.,  306-307. 
Andrews,   Bishop,  381. 
Anthony,    Edward,    36. 
Anthony,   Rev.   Dr.,  399. 
Appleton,  William  H.,  72. 
Archer,  Hugh,  114-115. 
Arnold,   Sir   Edwin,  386. 
Aspinwall,  John   E.,  399. 
Aspinwall,  J.  L.,  66. 


Aspinwall,    William    H.,    40,    57, 

102,  197-198,  211,  213,  295. 
Astor,  William  B.,  40,  61,  91. 
Astors,  The,  41,  48. 
Atkinson,   Samuel,  8. 
Auchmuty,   Col.,  331. 

B 

Babcock  Bros.   &  Co.,  222. 

Babcock,   Gen.,  324. 

Babcock,    Samuel    D.,    66,    130, 

131,   132,  279. 
Bacon,  Joshua,  312,  314. 
Bacon,  Mrs.  Joshua,  312,  314. 
Bacon,  The   Misses,  312,  314. 
Baldwin,  George  E.,  91,  102. 
Baldwin,  Major,  57,  179. 
Barbour,  John  M.,  102. 
Barlow,  S.  L.  M.,  72,  306. 
Barnard,  D.  D.,  73. 
Barnum,  P.  T.,  57-5S. 
Bartholdi,  386. 
Bartlett,    William    F.,    330,    331, 

406. 

Barlotozzi,   379. 
Barton,    Mr.,   377. 
Bartow,  Gen.,  134. 
Bastiat,  18. 
Baylis,   C.,  312,   314. 
Baylis,  Mrs.  C.,  312,  314. 
Beauregard,   Gen.,  348. 
Bedell,   Bishop,  218. 
Bee,  George  W.,  67. 
Beekman,  James  W,  72,  91,  102. 
Beeman,  Rev.  Dr.,  399. 
Bellows,    Henry    W.,    317-318. 
Belmont,   August,  41. 
Belmont,  August,  &  Co.,  222. 
Benkard,  James,  66. 
Bennett,  James  Gordon,  386. 
Berrien,    Senator,    136. 
Bethune,    Rev.   Dr.,   73. 
Bible,  Breeches,  328. 


411 


412     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


Bible,   Raphael's,  328. 
Biddle,   Gregory,  399. 
Bishop,  W.  D.,  312,  314,  316. 
Bishop,  Mrs.  W.  D.,  312,  314. 
Blackington,    W.    S.,    331. 
Blaine,  James  G.,  324,  366-367. 
Blatchford,  R.   H.,  40. 
Bodeska,  47. 

Bond  Street  (New  York),  38-41. 
Bonum,    Gen.,   406. 
Booth,  John  Wilkes,  395. 
Borcella   Club,  378. 
Boutwell,    George    S.,    307,    392- 

394- 
Bowles,     Samuel,    331,     332-333, 

407. 

Bradish,   Luther,  399. 
Brady,   James   T.,   40,  91,    118. 
Breckinridge,    Gen.,   406. 
Breckinridge,      Vice  -  President, 

120,   154. 

Briggs,  Ex-Gov.,  73. 
Brigham,  H.,  132. 
Brigham,  L.  H.,  66. 
Bright,  John,  213,  378. 
Brooklyn    Heights,    36. 
Brooks,    Erastus,  91,   399. 
Brooks,  James,  72,  73. 
Brower,  John  H.,  46. 
Brown  Bros.  &  Co.,  222. 
Brown,    Engineer,  350-351. 
Brown,  James,  40,  66,  279. 
Brown,  John,  72. 
Brown  Joseph  E.,  130-134. 
Brown,  Sandy,  123. 
Brown,  Sexton,  47. 
Brown,  Stewart,  91,  102,  399. 
Bryan,  George  S.,   121,  292,  293, 

3i6,   349. 
Bryan,    William    Jennings,    232, 

38o,  389- 
Bryant,     William     Cullen,     308- 

309,  378,  406. 

Buchanan,  James,  97,    152,   181. 
Burke,  Edmund,  145,  307,  327. 
Burke,  Judge,   15. 
Burnside,   Gen.,  215. 
Burr,  Aaron,   15,  305. 
Butler,  A.   P.,   14. 
Butler,     Benjamin     F.,    56,     153, 

211,  324,  346-348,  391-392,  406. 
Butler,  M.  C,  406. 
Butler,  William   Allen,  53,  58. 
Butler,  Col.,   12,  80. 
Buychisek,  George  L.,  400. 


C 


Calais    (France),    Excursion    to, 

355-357- 

Caldwell,  Samuel  B.,  67. 
Calhoun,  Andrew  P.,  31-33. 
Cadwallader,   Gen.,  229. 
Calhoun,  John  C.,  22,  23,  25-33, 

76,    141,    145-146,    147-148,    158, 

202,    203,    394. 

Campbell,   J.    B.,   309. 
Canterbury,  Archbishop  of,  362- 

363- 
Carpet-baggers,      232-240,      269- 

272,   288-295,    299-302,   319-325- 
Carr,  Thomas  G.,  8,  14. 
Carter,  Oliver  G.,  92. 
Castor,  Cyrus,  400. 
Central   Park,   37-38. 
Central     Park    West,     No.    248, 

374-376,   379-38o,   407. 
Cesnola,  L.  P.  di,  406. 
Chamberlain,    Ex-Gov.,    238. 
Chamber    of    Commerce,     New 

York,  67-68,  184-185,  186,  188, 

192,  199,  287. 
Chandler,  N.,  66,  281. 
Chapin,  Chester  W.,  331,  332. 
Chapman,  John,  8. 
Chase,   Salmon   P.,   173-174,   188, 

257- 

Chesnut,  Gen.,  406. 
Chicora  Cottage,  373. 
Chisholm,   Colonel,  372. 
Choate,  Joseph  H.,  67. 
Church  Club,  The,  370,  381. 
Church,    John    B.,    15. 
Cisco,    John   J.,    61,    174. 
Clarendon  Hotel,  46,  53. 
Clark,  Judge,  57. 
Clarke,  Horace  F.,  63. 
Clay,    Henry,    28,    41,    136,    150, 

158-159,  394- 

Clerke,  Thomas  W.,  102. 
Clerke,  William  B.,  92. 
Cleveland,    Grover,    4,    368,    370- 

372,  389- 

Cleves,  Langdon,  17. 
Clews,    Henry,   237. 
Clifford,  John  H.,  304,  305,  306, 

307,  406. 

Clinton,  Charles,  40,  47. 
Clinton,   George,  353. 
Coachman,  John   W.,  8,   14. 
Cobb,  Howell,  79,  82,  144. 


INDEX 


413 


Cockran,  Bourke,  368. 

Coddington,  Ex  -  Postmaster, 
38. 

Cohen,  J.   Barrett,  247. 

Cohen,  Solomon,   134. 

Coit,    Rev.    Dr.,    399. 

Coit,  Thomas  W.,  398. 

Coligny,  363. 

Collins,  Wilkie,  387. 

Colonels'  Club,  The,  53. 

Colt,  Judge,  330,  331. 

Colt,  Thomas,  330,  331. 

Commander,  James  M.,  8,  14, 
34-35- 

Comstock,   C,  91. 

Connor,  Henry  W.,  8,  349. 

Connor,   James,   406. 

Cooper,    Fenimore,   39,   56. 

Cooper,  Peter,  42,  48,  60,  337. 

Copley,  John   Singleton,  9. 

Corbett,    Mr.,    357. 

Coudert,  Frederick   R.,  376. 

Courtney,  W.   A.,  349. 

Court  Week  at  Georgetown,  34. 

Cox,  Bishop,  36. 

Cox,  James  F.,  92. 

Cox,  Samuel  H.,  36. 

Crane,  D.  Marshall,  331. 

Crane,  James  D.,  331. 

Crane,  J.  J.,  67. 

Crawford,    150. 

Crittenden,  136. 

Croker,  Richard,  383. 

Croly,  Mrs.  Jennie  Cunning 
ham,  364. 

Croswell,   Edwin,  91,   102. 

Croton  Water,  Introduction  of, 
37- 

Curtin,  Gov.,  330-331,  406. 

Curtin,  Mrs.  Gov.,  330-331. 

Curtis,  D.  J.,  320. 

Curtis,   Edward,  40. 

dishing,   87. 

Cutting,  Col.,  331. 

Cutting,  Francis   B.,  40. 

Cuyler,  Theodore,  57,  350-352, 
384. 

Czolgosz,  Leon,  395. 


D 


Dana,  Charles  A.,  57,  368. 
Daughter    of    the    Confederacy, 
The,  372-373- 


Davies,   T.,   307. 
Davis,  Alexander  J.,  54-56. 
Davis,   Charles  A.,  40,   102. 
Davis,   Guilbert,  38. 
Davis,    Jefferson,    123,    136,    139, 
163,   164,  276-277,  291,  304-306, 

372-373,  407. 

Davis,   Mrs.  Jefferson,  372. 
Davis,  Winnie,  372-373,  407- 
Dawes,  Henry  L.,  325,  330,  331. 
Dawson,  F.  W.,  407. 
Dawson,   Richard,   398. 
Deems,   Dr.,   56. 
Delafield,  Col.,  62. 
Delmonico's,   257,   258,   273,   363. 
Dennis,  A.  L.,  312,  313,  314. 
Dennis,  Jr.,  A.  L.,  314. 
Dennis,    Mrs.    A.    L.,    312,    313, 

314. 

Dennis,  Martin   R.,  314. 
Dennis,  Mrs.  Martin  R.,  314. 
Dennis,  Samuel   S.,  314. 
Depew,  Chauncey  M.,  369,  387. 
Devens,  Judge,  330-331. 
Dewey,  Mr.,  377. 
Dickens,    Charles,   386. 
Dickinson,  Daniel  S.,  73,  102. 
Dix,  John  A.,  38-39,  40,  61,  73, 

79,    82,    91,    102,    115,    176-180, 

224-226,   399,   406. 
Dix,  Mrs.  John  A.,  225-226. 
Dix,    Morgan,    39,    224-225. 
Dixon,   Senator,  92. 
Dodd,  Mrs.  D.,  312,  314. 
Dodge,    William    E.,     194,    293, 

364-366. 

Doer,   George    B.,  47. 
Dolner  &  Potter,  241,  243. 
Dorr,    George   B.,  353. 
Dorsheimer,      Lieut.-Gov.,     338- 

339-. 

Downing,    56. 
Dozier,   Anthony   W.,   8. 
Draper,  Simeon   C.,  25,  40. 
Drew,  Daniel,  68-70. 
Drexel,   Harjes   &  Co.,  388. 
Dudley,   Bishop,  363. 
Dudley,   Mr.,   209,   211. 
Dueling,   14-15. 
Duer,  John,  40. 
Duncan,  Chancellor,  8. 
Duncan,  Wm.   B.,  67. 
Duncan,    Sherman    &    Co.,    222, 

245- 
Dunham,   Thomas,   222. 


414     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


Dunscome,  W.  E.,  399. 
Durer,  Albert,  379. 
Duyckinck,  Evert,  52. 
Duyckinck,   Evert   A.,  39,   51-53, 
56. 


Earle,  John  H.,  222. 

Elderkin,  John,  385. 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  361. 

Elliott,  Bishop,  135. 

Ellridge,  Dr.,  47. 

Ellsmere,   Lord,  47. 

Ely,   Mr.,   377. 

Ely,    Smith,    57. 

Emmons,   379. 

England,    Bishop,    15-16. 

Erie   Railroad,  68-70,  364. 

Esther,  Book  of,  328. 

Eustis,    Senator,    189. 

Enstis,    Mrs.    Senator,    189. 

Evarts,  Wm.  M.,  57,  67,  197- 
198,  214,  258,  259,  281,  283- 
284,  293,  305,  346,  390-394,  407. 


Field,    Cyrus    W.,    259-260,    339, 

369- 
Field,    David    Dudley,    329,    330, 

33i,  372,  376,  378,  407- 
Field,  Henry  M.,  329-331,  W- 
Field,  Maunson  B.,  60. 
Fielding,   Thomas,    199,    357-359- 
Fielding,   Mrs.   Thomas,  358. 
Fillmore,    Millard,    73,    112,    120, 

297-298,  333- 
Fish,    Hamilton,    295,    322,    324, 

400. 

Fitch,  Mr.,  377. 
Flag,   George  W.,  9. 
Flower,  Roswell  P.,  407. 
Forbes,  Mr.,  258. 
Ford,  J.  Ress,  8. 
Ford,  Stephen,  8. 
Forrest,   Edwin,  56. 
Fowler,  Wm.   C,  227. 
Francis,  John  W.,  38,  39,  40,  51. 
Franklin,   Benjamin,  369. 
Fraser,  Mr.,  241,  243. 
Freedmen's   Bureau,  272,  323. 
Fremont,    Gen.,   97. 
Frost,   Judge,  8,    127. 


Frost,   W.   T.,   222. 

Froude,   James   Anthony,   386. 

Furness,  Henry,  387. 


Gaillard,  S.  T,  8. 
Gainsborough,  9. 
Gallatin,   Albert,  40. 
Garden,    Capt.,   376. 
Garden,  Mrs.   Capt.,  376. 
Gardner,    John,    57,   66,    257-258, 

279. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  359-363..  395- 
Garfield,    Mrs.    James    A.,    359- 

363. 

Garnett,  Col.,  372. 
Gary,    Gen.,   322,   324. 
Gates,  Gen.,  n. 
Gebhard,   Frederick   C.,  67. 
Geneva  Award,  345-348. 
Genin,  Mr.,  58. 

Georgetown  Address,  261-269. 
Georgetown,   Famous   Residents 

of,   8-19. 

Gerard,   James    W.,   40. 
Gerard,    S.    P.,  40. 
Gerolt,    Baron,    188-189,    191. 
Gerster,  Mme.,  47. 
Gibb,  Howard,  350. 
Gibbs,  J.   S.,  244,  245. 
Gilbert,    387. 
Gilmore,  Col.,  315. 
Gilmore,  Gen.  Q.  A.,  315. 
Gist,   Ex-Gov.,   125. 
Glennie,  Rev.,  8. 
Goelets,    The,   41. 
Golden    Wedding,    379-380. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  54,  374. 
Goldsmith,  Oliver,  Grand-nieces 

of,  374- 

Goodhue,   Jonathan,  40. 
Gordon,    Ex-Gov.,   406. 
Gordon,  J.   B.,   134,  406. 
Gould,  Edward  J.,  53. 
Goulds,  The,  41. 
Gourdin,    Henry,   74,   81-91,    113- 

114,  293,  301,  348-349. 
Gourdin,  Robert,  134,  348-349. 
Gracie,    Archibald,   222. 
Grant,  Frederick  D.,  376. 
Grant,   Mrs.   Frederick  D.,  376. 
Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  191,  257,  258, 

278,  293,  294,  295,  319-324,  332, 

345-346,  375,  407- 


INDEX 


415 


Grant,  Mrs.  Ulysses  S.,  375- 

Great  Western  Marine  Insur 
ance  Company,  64-67,  174, 
194,  197,  222,  223,  279-287,  345, 
390. 

Greeley,  Horace,  160,  302-304, 
318,  321,  332. 

Greeley,  Mrs.  Horace,  302. 

Green,  Andrew  H.,   57. 

Greene,   Bronson   C,   112,   120. 

Griffin,  George,  38,  40. 

Grinnel,  Henry,  72. 

Grinnel,  Minturn  &  Co.,  222. 

Grinnel,  Moses  H.,  25,  40,  57, 
130,  132,  194,  195,  222,  257-258, 

293- 

Griswold,  George,  40. 
Grow,   Galusha  A.,  407. 
Guion,  Wm.  H.,  66,  281. 
Guitean,  Charles  J.,  395. 


H 

Hackett,   Mr.,    51. 
Haight,  Rev.  Dr.,  399. 
Hale,  David,  226. 
Hall,  A.  Oakey,  59,  386. 
Hall,    Newman,    363. 
Hall,    Prescott,    39. 
Halleck,  Fitz-Greene,  51. 
Hallock,     Gerard,     72,    91,     102, 

226-228. 

Hallock,  William  H.,  227-228. 
Hamilton,  379. 
Hamilton,    Alexander,    15. 
Hammond,   Senator,   150. 
Hampton,  Wade,  324. 
Hancock,    Gen.,  47. 
Hand,  Thomas   C.,  363. 
Harding,    Mr.,   331. 
Harlee,  Gen.,   121-128. 
Harper,   Fletcher,   53. 
Harper,  James,  52. 
Harris,  Benjamin,  313. 
Hart,  Emanuel  B.,  180-181. 
Hastings,  George,  36. 
Hawks,  Rev.  Dr.,  51,  399. 
Hayne,  Robert  Y.,  8,  23. 
Henning,  James  G.,  8. 
Hennings,  Geo.  W.,  67. 
Heineman,    Emile,   66. 
Henri  IV.,  380. 
Henry,   12. 

Henry,  Joshua  J.,  72. 
Henry,    Patrick,    142. 


Heriot,  E.  T.,  8. 
Hewitt,   Mr.,   336. 
Higbee,    Rev.    Dr.,   399. 
Higgins,    Elias    S.,    102. 
Hill,  David  B.,  370-372. 
Hilton,   Judge,   44-45. 
Hinsdale,  Frank,  331. 
Hinsdale,  James,  331. 
Hitchcock,  Prof.,  352. 
Hoadley,  John   C.,  252-253,  304, 

305,  306. 

Hoffman,  Murray,  400. 
Hoffman,   Ogden,   40,   47,  407. 
Hoge,  Moses  D.,  331,  407. 
Hole,  Dean,  387. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  326. 
Homans,  J.  Smith,  186. 
Hone,  Philip,  39,  40. 
Hooker,    Gen.,    407. 
Houghton,  Lord,  386. 
Howard,  William  J.,  34-35. 
Howe,   Julia  Ward,  38. 
Howland   &  Frothingham,  222. 
Hoxie,  Joe,  49. 
Hoyt,  Ex-Gov.,  377. 
Hubbell,  Mr.,  377. 
Huger,    Alfred,    8,    121,    289-296, 

349- 

Huger,  Mrs.  Alfred,  295. 
Humboldt    Mining    &    Refining 

Co.,  258-259. 

Hunt,  Washington,  73,  91. 
Hunt,  Wilson   G.,  42,  47,  48-49, 

61,  67,  72,  91,  102,  130,  132,  179, 

214-216,  222,  259,  260,  273,  279, 

336,   376. 

Hunter,   Col.,    136. 
Huntington,     Daniel,     283,     378, 

379- 


I 


Ingersoll,    Robert,    372. 
Irish    Brigade,    173. 
Ironsides   Regiment,   173. 
Irving,   Henry,  386. 
Irving,  Washington,  39,  56. 


Jackson,  Andrew,  50,  157,  182, 
289,  290,  291,  371-372,  381,  389- 

Jackson  Day  Banquet,  368,  370, 
370-372. 

Jackson,  Henry  R.,  133. 


416     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


James,    Joseph,    407. 

James,  Thomas  L.,  372,  374-375, 

376. 
James,    Mrs.    Thomas    L.,    375, 

376. 

Jameson,   Gen.,   121,   122. 
Jay,  John,  40,  400. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  105,  144,  145, 

150-151,    156,   369,   381,   389. 
Johnson,    Andrew,    246,    273-275, 

323,   391-394- 

Johnson,   Samuel    R.,  399. 
Johnston,  J.   B.,  66,  258,  281. 
Johnston,    Joseph    E.,    216,    275- 

277,  406. 

Jones,  David,  47. 
Jones,  Mr.,  343-344. 
Jones,  Thomas  Floyd,  400. 
Jones,  Walter  R.,  400. 
Judson,   Henry    Pratt,   235. 
"  June,  Jennie,"   364. 

K 

Kames,    Lord,    56. 
Keasbey,  A.  Q.,  312,  314. 
Keasbey,  Mrs.  A.  Q.,  312,  314. 
Keith,  Alexander,  398. 
Keith,   John   Alexander,   8. 
Keith,    Paul    Trapier,    398. 
Kellogg,   Clara   Louise,  47. 
Kellogg,   Ensign   H.,  330,  331- 
Kennedy,  D.  S.,  40. 
Kennedy,  J.   C.  G.,  188-190. 
Kennedy,  Mrs.  J.   C.   G.,   189. 
Kennedy,    Policeman,    130,    131, 

132. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  39,  40. 
Kent,  William,  61. 
Kerner,  46,   48. 
Kernochan,   Frank,  331. 
Kernochan,  John,  330,  331. 
Kerrigan,  Mr.,  131,   132. 
Ketchum,    Hiram,    102. 
Key,  Francis   Scott,  18,   157. 
King,  James   G.,  39,  40. 
King,  James   G.,  Sons,  222. 
King,  John  A.,  400. 
Kingsley,    Dean,   387. 
Kinney,   Thomas   T.,   314. 
Knowlson,    Mr.,    377. 
Knox,  Thomas  W.,  387-388. 
Ku-Kluxism,  272. 
Kutter,   Gustavus,  66. 
Kyle,    Mr.,    59. 


Lafayette,   363. 

Lamar,  Mr.,   130. 

Lamb,  Charles,  52. 

Lance,    Harvey   M.,   8,    18-20. 

Landseer,    279. 

Langham  Hotel  (London),  217- 
218. 

Laselle,  Mr.  377. 

Lathers,  Richard,  Circum 
stances  leading  to  preparation 
of  Reminiscences  of,  3-4; 
Early  education  of,  4;  Starts 
in  business,  4;  Attends  Van 
Buren  banquet,  7-8;  Elected 
Major,  10;  Helps  to  prevent 
a  duel,  14;  Is  burned  out,  16- 
17;  Is  saved  from  bankruptcy 
by  his  friends,  16-17;  Makes 
his  first  public  address,  18; 
Takes  a  trip  through  New 
England,  20;  Is  presented  to 
the  Thurstons,  20;  Goes  on 
an  excursion  on  the  Harlem 
Railroad,  20-21;  Is  married 
to  Abby  Pitman  Thurston,  21; 
Takes  wedding  trip  to  Niag 
ara  and  Boston,  21;  Assists 
in  the  festivities  in  honor  of 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Daniel  Webster, 
21-23;  Goes  North  on  same 
steamer  as  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Daniel  Webster,  23-25;  Helps 
defeat  the  Charleston  and 
Columbia  junta  by  electing 
a  delegate  to  the  National 
Democratic  Convention,  33- 
35;  Secures  for  this  delegate 
the  right  to  cast  ballot  for 
the  entire  State  of  South 
Carolina,  35;  Is  entertained 
in  Brooklyn  by  Edward  An 
thony  and  George  Hastings, 
36;  Witnesses  the  celebration 
in  honor  of  the  introduction 
of  Croton  water  into  New 
York  City,  37;  Takes  up  his 
residence  in  Bond  Street,  38: 
Visits  house  on  the  site  of 
the  Stewart  mansion,  42;  Dis 
cusses  with  A.  T.  Stewart  the 
future  of  the  latter's  business, 
44;  Frequents  the  Clarendon 
Hotel,  46-53;  Buys  Winyah 
Park,  New  Rochelle,  and 


INDEX 


417 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
builds  a  summer  residence 
there,  53^54;  Studies  drawing 
and  architecture  under  Alex 
ander  J.  Davis,  54;  Is  advised 
by  Samuel  F.  B.  Morse,  56-57; 
Lends  his  flute  to  Kyle,  the 
flutist,  who  accompanies 
Jenny  Lind  with  it,  59;  Serves 
on  the  Committee  of  One 
Hundred  citizens  appoint 
ed  to  receive  the  Prince  of 
Wales,  60;  Establishes  him 
self  as  a  commission  mer 
chant  and  as  agent  of  insur 
ance  companies  and  banks, 
63;  Accepts  a  directorship 
and  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Finance  Committee  in  a  ma 
rine  insurance  company,  64; 
Accepts  the  presidency  of  the 
Great  Western  Marine  Insur 
ance  Company,  65-66;  Be 
comes  a  member  of  the  New 
York  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
67-68;  Is  elected  a  director 
and  chairman  of  the  Finance 
Committee  of  the  Erie  Rail 
road,  68;  Attempts  in  vain  to 
control  the  stock  speculating 
mania  of  Daniel  Drew,  69;  Is 
one  of  the  vice-presidents  of 
the  meeting  of  conservative 
citizens  in  the  Academy  of 
Music  72;  Is  appointed  one  of 
a  Committee  of  Three  to  call 
meetings  for  the  election  of 
delegates  to  the  Charleston 
Democratic  Convention,  73; 
Refuses  to  represent  New 
Rochelle  in  the  County  Nom 
inating  Convention,  73;  Is 
elected  to  represent  West- 
chester  County  in  the  State 
Convention,  73;  Addresses  a 
letter  to  five  representative 
citizens  of  Charleston,  S.  C, 
74-8o;  Receives  their  answers, 
81-91;  Is  one  of  seventeen 
conservative  men  to  arrange 
for  the  Pine  Street  Meeting 
and  calls  this  meeting  to  or 
der,  91-92;  Is  appoimed  one 
of  a  Committee  of  Three  to 
present  to  the  South  the  "  Ad- 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
dress  "  and  "  Resolutions  "  of 
the  Pine  Street  Meeting,  112: 
Receives  letters  from  promi 
nent  men  in  the  South,  112- 
117;  Is  requested  to  under 
take  alone  the  Pine  Street 
Meeting  mission,  120;  Sets 
out  for  the  South,  120;  At 
tends  the  sessions  of  the 
Peace  Convention  at  Wash 
ington,  120;  Meets  James 
Lyons  and  other  distinguish 
ed  Virginians  in  Richmond, 
120-121;  Presents  the  "Ad 
dress  "  in  Charleston  at  a 
dinner  given  by  Gov.  Pick- 
ens,  121 ;  Is  invited  by  Gov. 
Pickens  and  Gen  Jameson  to 
visit  Fort  Moultrie,  122; 
Sends  from  Charleston  a  let 
ter  which  is  printed  in  the 
New  York  Journal  of  Com 
merce,  126-129;  Goes  from 
Charleston  to  Savannah,  130; 
Helps  to  adjust  the  contro 
versy  between  Gov.  Brown 
and  the  police  of  New  York 
over  the  seizure  by  the  latter 
of  a  consignment  of  arms  be 
longing  to  the  State  of 
Georgia,  130-133;  Visits  Fort 
Pickens  on  invitation  of  Gov. 
Brown,  134;  Hears  for  the 
first  time  the  prayer  for  the 
President  of  the  Confederate 
States,  135;  Sends  a  let 
ter  from  Savannah  to  the 
New  York  Express,  135-136, 
Goes  from  Savannah  to  Au 
gusta,  137;  Goes  from  Augus 
ta  to  Columbus  and  Macon, 
137;  Goes  next  to  Montgom 
ery,  Ala.,  137;  Sends  a  letter 
from  Montgomery  to  the  New 
York  Journal  of  Commerce, 
137-138;  Is  introduced  to 
President  Davis,  139;  Pre 
sents  to  President  Davis  the 
"Appeal  to  the  South"  of  the 
Pine  Street  Meeting,  accom 
panying  it  by  an  address,  139- 
163;  Is  invited  to  an  evening 
reception  at  the  residence  of 
President  Davis,  163;  Sends  a 


418     REMINISCENCES    OF   RICHARD    LATHERS 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
second  letter  from  Montgom 
ery  to  the  New  York  Jour 
nal  of  Commerce,  163-165; 
Visits  Mobile  on  invitation  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
165;  Is  interrupted  while 
speaking  before  the  Mobile 
Chamber  of  Commerce  by  the 
news  of  the  firing  upon  Fort 
Sumter,  166;  Visits  New  Or 
leans  on  invitation  of  the 
Chamber  of  Commerce,  167; 
Is  ordered  to  leave  the  city  by 
the  Mayor  of  New  Orleans, 
167;  Returns  North,  167;  Is 
accused  of  disloyalty  by  sev 
eral  New  York  papers,  168- 
170;  Sends  a  communication 
to  the  press  declaring  his 
loyalty,  171;  Receives  many 
threatening  letters,  I7l-i72l 
Contributes  financially  and 
otherwise  to  the  work  of  put 
ting  down  the  Rebellion,  173; 
Participates  in  a  meeting  of 
bankers  summoned  to  discuss 
aiding  the  Treasury  by  sub 
scription  to  a  loan,  174-176; 
Urges  the  nomination  of  Gen. 
Dix  for  the  Governorship  of 
New  York,  176;  Visits  Gen. 
Dix  at  Fortress  Monroe,  178; 
Writes  a  letter  to  Gen.  Dix 
on  his  candidacy,  179-180; 
Confers  with  Ex-Governor 
Seymour,  180-181;  Initiates  a 
movement  for  the  presenta 
tion  to  Gen.  Scott  of  a  por 
trait  of  himself,  183;  Is  ap 
pointed  by  the  President  of 
the  Chamber  of  Commerce 
one  of  a  Committee  of  Three 
to  draft  and  present  a  me 
morial  to  President  Lincoln, 
184-188;  Interviews  Secretary 
Seward  and  Secretary  Chase, 
187-188;  Entertains  Gen.  Mc- 
Clellan  at  New  Rochelle,  192- 
194;  Interviews  Gov.  Seymour 
regarding  the  duration  of  the 
War,  196-197;  Visits  England 
and  the  Continent,  197-219; 
Attends  a  banquet  given  by 
James  McHenry,  198-199;  Is 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
elected  an  honorary  member 
of  the  Committee  of  Lloyds 
and  delivers  an  address  before 
that  body,  199;  Delivers  an 
address  before  the  Manches 
ter  Chamber  of  Commerce, 
199-206;  Is  interviewed  by 
Confederate  bond  -  holders, 
206-207;  Is  entertained  at 
Edinburgh  by  Sir  James 
Simpson,  207;  Writes  to  John 
A.  Parker  describing  the  state 
of  English  sentiment,  209- 
214;  Receives  a  letter  from 
Wilson  G.  Hunt  describing 
conditions  in  New  York,  214- 
216;  Is  instrumental  in  se 
curing  an  American  manager 
for  the  Langham  Hotel,  217- 
218;  Confounds  the  clerk  of 
a  Paris  hotel,  218-219;  Re 
turns  to  New  York,  219; 
Drafts  and  circulates  an  ap 
peal  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Navy,  219-223;  Interviews 
Editor  Stone  regarding  a 
bogus  dispatch,  224-225;  De 
livers  an  address  before 
the  Mercantile  Library  Asso 
ciation,  230;  Delivers  an  ad 
dress  on  Lincoln  at  New 
Rochelle,  232;  Delivers  an  ad 
dress  on  Lincoln  at  Tam 
many  Hall,  232;  Makes  the 
acquaintance  of  Gov.  Scott, 
of  South  Carolina,  and  aids 
him  in  raising  funds  for  the 
State  in  New  York,  238;  Re 
ceives  many  appeals  for  finan 
cial  help  from  old  friends  in 
the  South,  240-251;  Entertains 
Dr.  Porter  at  New  Rochelle, 
251-252;  Co-operates  with  Dr. 
Porter  and  John  C.  Hoadley 
in  founding  an  educational 
fund  for  the  South,  252-253; 
Secures  the  release  of  the 
Winyah  Indigo  Society  and 
helps  in  re-establishing  pub 
lic  worship  in  the  South,  255; 
Entertains  William  Gilmore 
Simms  at  New  Rochelle,  255- 
257;  Accepts  a  directorship  in 
the  Humbolt  Mining  &  Re- 


INDEX 


419 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
fining  Co.,  258;  Declines  to 
invest  in  Cyrus  W.  Field's 
elevated  road,  260;  Delivers 
an  address  to  a  joint  meeting 
of  white  and  colored  men  at 
Georgetown,  S.  C,  261-270; 
Counsels  the  citizens  of 
Charleston  to  co-operate  with 
the  negroes,  270-271 ;  At 
tends  banquet  in  honor  of 
President  Johnson,  273;  Visits 
President  Johnson,  274;  Be 
comes  connected  with  the 
York  Guaranty  and  Indem 
nity  Company,  275;  Entertains 
Gen.  Johnston  at  Morley's 
Hotel,  275-277;  Loses  his 
friend  Donald  McKay,  277- 
279;  Resigns  the  Presidency 
of  the  Great  Western  Ma 
rine  Insurance  Company,  279- 
283;  Is  presented  with  a  sil 
ver  service  and  a  portrait  by 
Huntington,  283-287;  Resigns 
his  membership  in  the  Cham 
ber  of  Commerce,  287;  Takes 
up  residence  in  Charleston, 
288;  Secures  the  vindication 
and  rehabilitation  of  Alfred 
Huger,  289-296;  Secures  the 
transformation  of  the  old 
Charleston  customhouse  and 
postoffice  building  into  a  post 
and  telegraph  office,  296-297; 
Goes  as  a  Charleston  dele 
gate  to  the  convention  of  the 
National  Board  of  Trade  at 
Buffalo,  where  he  responds  to 
the  toast  "  Our  Country,"  297; 
Is  instrumental  in  organizing 
the  first  Taxpayers'  Conven 
tion,  which  he  attends  as  one 
of  two  delegates  from 
Charleston,  298-301;  Speaks 
at  the  annual  dinner  of  the 
Charleston  Hibernian  Society 
and  at  two  anniversaries  of 
the  New  England  Society, 
302;  Supports  actively  the 
Greeley  ticket,  302;  Enter 
tains  Gov.  Clifford  of  Massa 
chusetts  and  other  Northern 
visitors  at  his  South  Battery 
residence,  304-307;  Entertains 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
Judge  Davies  of  New  York, 
307;  Entertains  Ex-Gov.  Sey 
mour  and  William  Cullen 
Bryant,  308-312;  Fights  and 
wins  a  social  battle,  310-312; 
Entertains  a  number  of 
Northern  railroad  presidents 
and  bankers,  312-316;  Enter 
tains  Dr.  Henry  W  Bellows, 
317-318;  Visits  Charles  Sum- 
ner,  319-320;  Attends  the  sec 
ond  Taxpayers'  Convention, 
where  he  drafts  resolutions 
and  delivers  an  address,  319- 
320;  Presents  the  case  of  the 
taxpayers  before  President 
Grant  and  a  joint  committee 
of  Congress,  320-325;  Is 
made  an  honorary  member  of 
the  Alumni  Association  of 
Williams  College,  325;  De 
livers  an  address  at  Williams 
College  on  "  State  Rights  as 
Opposed  to  State  Sover 
eignty,"  325;  Gives  up  his 
Charleston  residence  for  Ab- 
by  Lodge,  Pittsfield,  Mass., 
326;  Gives  a  reception  at 
Abby  Lodge  in  honor  of  Gov. 
Curtin  and  Mrs.  Curtin,  330- 
331;  Becomes  intimate  with 
Samuel  Bowles  of  the  Spring 
field  Republican,  332-333;  De 
livers  an  address  before 
the  Deerfield  Agricultural  So 
ciety,  334;  Speaks  on  "  Jour 
nalism  and  Journalists  "  be 
fore  the  editors  and  reporters 
of  Berkshire  County,  334; 
Speaks  frequently  for  the 
Tilden  and  Hendricks  ticket, 
334;  Runs  as  candidate  for 
State  Senator,  338-344;  Is 
elected  on  the  face  of  the  re 
turns,  but  is  counted  out,  344- 
345;  Attempts  to  secure  for 
the  marine  underwriters 
their  just  dues  under  the 
Geneva  Award,  345-348;  Has 
an  encounter  with  Gen.  But 
ler  before  the  Judiciary  Com 
mittee  of  Congress,  346-348; 
Loses  his  old  friend,  Henry 
Gourdin,  348;  Sails  for  Eu- 


420     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
rope,  350-352;  Meets  by 
chance  the  Earl  of  Orkney, 
353-354;  Has  an  amusing  ex 
perience  with  the  Savage 
Club  of  London,  354-357; 
Unites  with  other  Americans 
in  calling  a  meeting  at  the 
American  Exchange  to  ex 
press  sympathy  with  Mrs. 
Garfield,  359-361;  Returns  to 
America,  363;  Responds  to 
the  sentiment  "  Shipping  and 
Commerce "  at  a  banquet  of 
the  Associated  Marine  Un 
derwriters  of  the  United 
States,  363;  Lectures  at  New 
Rochelle  on  "  Women  and 
Their  Relation  to  Society," 
363-364;  Assists  in  honoring 
the  memory  of  his  friend, 
Wm.  E.  Dodge,  364;  Renews 
his  acquaintance  with  Mr. 
Elaine,  367;  Refuses  to  be  a 
candidate  for  State  Senator, 
367-368;  Defends  President 
Cleveland  at  the  Jackson  Day 
banquet,  368;  Visits  Europe, 
368;  Speaks  at  the  Fourth  of 
July  banquet  at  Lucerne, 
Switzerland,  368-369;  Returns 
to  America,  369;  Replies  to 
Chauncey  M.  Depew,  369; 
Delivers  an  address  before 
The  Church  Club,  370;  Speaks 
on  "Tariff  Reform"  at  the 
banquet  of  the  Business  Men's 
Democratic  Club  of  New 
York  City,  370;  Speaks  again 
before  the  same  organization 
in  response  to  the  toast, 
"  Business  Men  in  Politics," 
370-372;  Speaks  at  the  Lotos 
Club  in  reply  to  Col.  Inger- 
soll,  372;  Entertains  Miss 
Winnie  Davis  at  New  Ro 
chelle,  372-373;  Builds  a  resi 
dence  at  Twilight  Park,  in 
the  Catskills,  373;  Entertains 
Miss  Mary  Custis  Lee,  374- 
376;  Delivers  a  series  of  lec 
tures  on  "  Art "  before  the 
Borcella  Club  of  New  Ro 
chelle,  378;  Celebrates  his 
Golden  Wedding,  379-380; 


Lathers,  Richard. — Continued. 
Refuses  to  serve  as  a  member 
of  the  Election  Committee  of 
Westchester  County  because 
of  the  nomination  of  Bryan, 
380;  Talks  on  "Free  Silver" 
at  Twilight  Park,  380;  Ad 
dresses  the  Church  Club  on 
"  The  Duty  of  Churchmen  to 
the  State,"  381-382;  Donates 
a  prize  fund  to  Williams  Col 
lege,  382;  Is  elected  an  hono 
rary  member  of  Flandreau 
Post,  509,  G.  A.  R,  382;  Pro 
tests  publicly  against  the  reso 
lutions  of  the  "  Hundredth 
Annual  Conference  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church," 
indorsing  the  Spanish-Ameri 
can  War,  382;  Publishes  a 
pamphlet  entitled  "A  Letter 
on  the  Social  and  Political 
Degradation  of  the  Times," 
382;  Resigns  membership  in 
the  Lotos  Club,  385;  Loses 
his  friend,  Col,  Knox,  387; 
Denounces  the  Kansas  City 
Convention,  388-390;  Is  ap 
pointed  a  vice-president  of 
the  Charleston  Exposition, 
390;  Loses  his  friend,  Wm. 
M.  Evarts,  390;  Conducts 
memorial  services  at  Twilight 
Park  in  honor  of  President 
McKinley,  395-397- 

Lathers,  Mrs.  Richard,  21,  43> 
122,  124,  134,  245,  311,  341, 
372,  379,  38o,  403- 

Lathrop,    F.    S.,   222. 

Lathrop,    Mr.,    131,    132. 

La   Volpe,  379. 

Lawton,    A.    R.,    134,   406. 

Learned,    Edward,  330,   331. 

Le   Brim,  379. 

Lee,  George,  372. 

Lee,  Mary  Custis,  374-376,  407. 

Lee,  Robert  E.,  311,  374,  375, 
376,  4p7- 

Lely,  Sir  Peter,  9. 

Lesseps,  Count  de,  386. 
\  Lincoln,    Abraham,    82,    90,    106, 
149-150,  151,  152,  154,  173,  184, 

185-187,   200,    201,   215,    224,    228, 

231-234,  266,  272,  276-277,  292, 
318,  384,  395,  396. 


INDEX 


421 


Lincoln,  Mrs.  Abraham,  184. 
Lind,  Jenny,  57-60. 
Literary  World,  The,  53. 
Lloyds   (London),  199. 
London  Clubs,  353-357- 
Long,  George,  52. 
Lordj  Daniel,  Jr.,  40. 
Lotos   Club,   354,   355,   357,   372, 

385-388. 

Louis   XVI.,  380. 
Louis  Napoleon,  38. 
Louis    Philippe,   380. 
Loundes,  C.  T.,  293,  349. 
Lovell,  Mansfield,  406. 
Low,  A.  A.,  48,  57,  132,  224. 
Low,  A.  A.,   &  Bros.,  222. 
Lowell,    James    Russell,    52,    53, 

360. 

Luce,  James  C.,  282. 
Lucerne    (Switzerland)   banquet, 

368-369. 

Ludlow,   Thomas   W.,    102. 
Lull,  J.  W.,  327- 
Lynch,  Thomas,  331,  407. 
Lyons,   James,    120. 
Lyons,  Lord,  229. 


M 


MacArthur,  Judge,  189. 
MacArthur,  Mrs.  Judge,   189. 
Madison,  James,  105,  144. 
Magrath,   A.    G.,   74,   81-91,    121, 

406. 

Malone,  Sylvester,  352. 
Manchester   Address,    199-206. 
Manhattan   Club,  70,   183,  385. 
Manning,  Gov.,  322. 
Marble,   Manton,  57. 
Marcy,  Ex-Gov.,  50. 
Mario,  60. 

Marion,    Gen.,    11-12. 
Marshall,    C.    H.,    185,    194,    222, 

224. 
Marshall,  Chief  Justice,  143-144, 

150. 

Marshall,   Ex-Gov.,  47. 
Marshall,  Rev.  Dr.,  360. 
Mathews,  Cornelius,  53-55. 
Maxwell,    Mr.,   350. 
Mayo,  Mr.,  376. 
Mayo,  Mrs.,  376. 
Mayton,  William  H.,  283. 
McAllister,   Ward,   39,   47,   62. 


McClellan,  George,  191-194,  406. 
McClellan,  Mrs.  George,  192. 
McCord,  Col.,  17. 
McCord,  Louisa  S.,  17-18. 
McDowell,  Irvin,  406. 
McGlathery,    Rev.,   331. 
McHenry,  James,  198-199. 
McKay,  Alex.  R.,  282. 
McKay,  Capt,  350. 
McKay,  Donald  L.,  4,  8,  14,  16, 
34-35,     121,     244-246,     277-279, 

349- 

McKeon,  John,  102,   126. 
McKinley,  William,  395. 
McMurray,    Senator,    179. 
McVicar,  Rev.  Dr.,  399. 
Mecke,  J.  A.,  66. 
Melon,  S.  S.,  377. 
Melville,  Allan,  326,  330,  331. 
Melville,    Herman,    51,    328-329, 

407. 
Memminger,    C.    G.,    74,    81-83, 

121,   139,   140,   155,  165,  406. 
Memorial  to  President  Lincoln, 

185-188. 

Middleton,   Henry  A.,  8. 
Middleton,  John  Izzard,  8. 
Miles,  Nelson  A.,  406. 
Minturn,  Robert  B.,  40,  61. 
Mitchell,   Nelson,  74,  81-83,  246. 
Mitchell  &  Whaley,  245,  246. 
Mitchell,  Prof.,  73. 
Modjeska,  Mme.,  47. 
Molyneux,    Mr.,    134. 
Monroe,  James,  105. 
Montgomery,  215. 
Montgomery  Address,  The,  139- 

163. 

Moran,  Edward,  378-379. 
Morewood,  J.   R.,  330,  331. 
Morewood,  Mrs.  J.  R.,  330. 
Morgan,  E.  D.,  &  Co.,  222. 
Morgan,  E.  E.,  72,  222. 
Morgan,  Gov.,  62,   173. 
Morgan,  J.   Pierpont,  67. 
Morgan,  J.  Pierpont,  &  Co.,  222. 
Morgan,  Matthew,  72. 
Morgan,   Mr.,  38. 
Morgan,  W.   D.,  4. 
Morley's    Hotel    (London),   217. 
Morris,  Lewis,  400. 
Morse  Brothers,  69-70. 
Morse,   Furman   H.,  209. 
Morse,  Samuel  F.  B.,  56-57,  369. 
Morton,  Chief  Justice,  330-331. 


422     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


Moses,  Franklin  J.,  238-239. 

Moultrie,  12. 

Musgrave,     Sir     Anthony,     329, 

33L 

Musgrave,    Lady,    329. 
Myers,   Bailey,  53. 


N 


Napier,   Lord,  47. 
Neal,  Joseph  C,  36. 
Neal,  Mrs.  Joseph  C.,  36-37. 
Newcastle,  Duke  of,  60,  62. 
Newcomb,  Charles  V.,  222. 
New  York   Guaranty   &  Indem 
nity  Co.,  275. 
Nott,    Benjamin,    102. 


O 


O'Conor,  Charles,  40,  57,  73,  76, 

79,  87,  92,  118,  407. 
O'Conor,    Charles,    Address    of, 

at    Pine    Street    Meeting,    92- 

101. 

Ogden,  Abraham,  40. 
Ogden,  David  B.,  40. 
O'Gorman,  Richard,  51,  373-374, 

376. 

O'Gorman,  Mrs.  Richard,  376. 
Olyphant,  Robert  M.,  67. 
O'Neal,  Judge,  15. 
Opdyke,  George,  222. 
Orchestrion,  328. 
Orkney,  Earl  of,  354. 
Orr,   Ex-Gov.,  406,  407. 
O'Sullivan,  John  L.,  102. 


Pacalan,  275. 

Paddock,  Bishop,  331,  407. 

Padelford,  Mr.,  134. 

Panini,  379. 

Parker,    John    A.,    131-132,    209, 

211,  213. 

Parker,  Judge,  344. 
Parker,  Rev.  Dr.,  363. 
Parmly  brothers,  The,  38. 
Patti,  Mme.,  47. 
Payne,  John   Howard,  59-60. 
Peace   Convention,  The,  120. 


Pee  Dee  Club,  7-8. 

Pell  Family,  The,  38. 

Perit,  E.,   186. 

Perit,  Pelatiah,  61. 

Perry,  A.  L.,  376-378- 

Perry,  Nehemiah,  312,  314. 

Perry,    Mrs.    Nehemiah,    314. 

Petigru,  Capt.,  8,   14. 

Petigru,  James  L.,  14,  15,  121, 
296,  349. 

Peyster,  Frederick  de,  40,  399. 

Phelps,  E.  J.,  47. 

Phelps,  Geo.  A.,  Jr.,  67. 

Phelps,  Royal,  102. 

Phillips,   Wendell,     159. 

Pickens,   Gen.,    12. 

Pickens,  Gov.,  121. 

Pickersgill,  William,  57,  66. 

Pierce,  Franklin,  47,  50-51,  73. 

Pierpont,   Judge,   57,    179,  407. 

Pierrepont   Rifles,    172. 

Piese,  Rev.  Dr.,  403. 

Pinckney,  Charles  Coatesworth, 
142-143. 

Pinckney,    Rev.    Dr.,   331,   407. 

Pine  Street  Meeting,  91-112, 
201. 

Plantation  Life  in  South  Caro 
lina,  4-7. 

Plunkett,  W.  H.,  331. 

Poinsett,  Joel  R.,  7. 

Polk,  Ex-President,  82, 

Pomeroy,  Robert,  330,  331. 

Pomeroy,  Theodore,  331. 

Pope,  Gen.,  191. 

Porter,  A.  Toomer,  128,  248-253, 
407. 

Porter,  Horace,  376,  387. 

Porter,  Mr.,  325. 

Porter,  W.  D.,  301,  310,  319,  322. 

Potter,  Clarkson  N.,  57. 

Potter,  Henry  C.,  57,  396-397, 
403-405- 

Potter,   Horatio,  57,   399. 

Prevost,  Gen.,  n. 

Prime,   Frederick,  40. 

Prime,   Irenaeus,  407. 

Prime,  W.  C.,  176,  178,  180,  193. 

Prince  George  Winyah,  398. 

Prince  of  Wales,  60-62,  383. 

Pringle,  William  Bull,  8. 

Prior,   Dr.,  8. 

Proctor,   Prof.,  387. 

Pryor,  Roger  A.,  376. 

Pryor,  Mrs.  Roger  A.,  376. 


INDEX 


423 


Purdy,  Mr.,  345. 
Putnam,  46. 


Quincy,  Josiah,  8. 


R 

Randall,  James  R.,  18,  406. 
Randall,  Samuel  J.,  331,  370-371, 

406. 

Raney,  Senator,  236,  270. 
Ray,  Robert,  40. 
Redpath,  249. 
Reed,  I.  Havilson,  8. 
Reform  Club,  385. 
Reid,  Whitelaw,  386,  387. 
Rensselaer,  P.  S.,  399- 
"  Resolutions  "    adopted    by    the 

Pine    Street   Meeting,    111-112. 
Revere  House  (Boston),  21. 
Reynolds,  Sir  Joshua,  9,  327. 
Rhett,  Robert  B.,  303. 
Rhinelander,  Mr.,  47. 
Rich,  Col.,  14. 
Richards,  T.  A.,  379. 
Richardson,  363. 
Richmond,  Gen.,  350. 
Riggs,_  Mr.,   195,   197. 
Ristori,   Mme.,  47. 
Ritchie,  Mr.,  144-145. 
Robertson,  Alexander,  8. 
Robertson,  William  H.,  338-345. 
Robinson,   Alexander,   349. 
Robinson,   Edward   Mott,  71. 
Robinson,  Judge,  331. 
Rockwell,  Judge,  330,  331. 
Roberts,  O.  M.,  34. 
Rodgers,    Randolph,   380. 
Rogers  &  Kneeland,  222. 
Rogers,    Samuel,   53. 
Rose,   A.   G.,  349. 
Rothmakler,    E.    B.,   8. 
Rowan,    Charles   W.,   313. 
Rub  in  i,  60. 

Ruchlin   &   Crane,  222. 
Rudisch,  Daniel,  113. 
Ruffin,    Edmund,   20. 
Ruggles,  Mr.,  46. 
Ruggles,  S.  B.,  40. 
Russell,  Charles   H.,  40. 
Russell,    Lord,   211. 
Russell,  Stephen   P.,   102. 
Rutson,   Albert,   312. 


Sala,  386. 

Sale,  W.  A.,  &  Co.,  222. 
Sampson   Family,  The,  38. 
Sampson,   Mr.,  257. 
Sanderson,  Mr.,  218. 
Satterlee,  Henry  Y.,  395-396. 
Savage  Club  (London),  355-357- 
Schell,  Augustus,  91. 
Schepeler,  John  F.,  279. 
Scott,  Gov.,  238-239,  323. 
Scott,  Thomas   A.,  313. 
Scott,  Winfield,  61,  73,  181,  182, 

183-184,    380. 
Seabrooke,   H.,  304. 
Seabury,   Rev.   Dr.,  399. 
Sewall,  381. 
Seward,  Wm.   H.,   115,   168,   182, 

184,  187-189,  191,  195,  214,  224- 

226,  229,  231,  256,  257,  273-274. 
Seymour,   Horatio,   177,   180-181, 

195-197,  308-310,  340,  399,  406, 

407. 

Shackelford,  Francis  R.,  8. 
Shakespeare    (Fourth    Edition), 

328. 

Sherman,  Gen.,  245,  246,  276-277. 
Sherman,  Isaac,  222. 
Sherman,  Watts,  72,  91,  102. 
Sickles,  Gen.,  255,  406. 
Simmons,  379. 
Simms,    William    Gilmore,    255- 

257,  407- 

Simons,  Col.,  316. 
Simons,  Gen.,  322. 
Simpson,   Bishop,  360-362. 
Simpson,  Sir  James,  207-209. 
Slaughter,  Philip,  19-20. 
Slavery,  Opinions  on,  7,  76,  87- 

88,    93,    98,     roo-ioi,     105-107, 

in,  148-156,  162,  232. 
Sloan,  Samuel,  312,  314,  316. 
Slocomb,  Thomas,  67. 
Smith,  Adam,  207. 
Smith,  Floyd,  399. 
Smith,    Gustavus    W.,    91,     102, 

406. 

Smith,   G.  W.?  Dr.,  381. 
Smith,  I.  McCune,  399. 
Smith,  James,  8. 
Smith,  Joseph  E.  A.,  330,  331. 
Smith,  J.  R.,  282,  283. 
Smith,   Mr.,  359. 
Smith,  Wellington,  331. 


424     REMINISCENCES    OF    RICHARD    LATHERS 


South     Battery     residence,    304- 

307,  406. 

Soutter,  James  T.,  72,  91,  102. 
Sparkman,  James  R.,  8,  14. 
Spaulding,  H.  F.,  66,  280,  281. 
Spedding,  Robert,  66. 
Speed,  Attorney  General,  305. 
Spencer,   I.   C.,  400. 
Spofford,  Tileson  &  Co.,  222. 
Spring,  Rev.  Dr.,  38. 
Squires,  Senator,   189. 
Squires,   Mrs.    Senator,    189. 
Stanley,  Dean,  387. 
Stanton,     Edwin     M.,     173,     178, 

1 80,  257,  276. 

Steckel,  Baron,  47,   195,  196. 
Stephens,     Alexander     H.,     151- 

152,   155,   164,  165. 
Sterling,  Hugh,  352. 
Sterling,  M.,  27-31. 
Stevens,  Mr.,  175-176. 
Stevens,  Paran,  21. 
Stewart,  A.  T.,  42-46,  48,  72. 
Stewart,  Robert  L.,  41-42. 
Stone,   David   M.,   57. 
Stone,  Mr.,  224. 
Story,  379. 

Stowe,  Harriet  Beecher,  18,  400. 
Stuart,  Gilbert,  9. 
Stuart,  M.  Cohen,  312. 
Sullivan,  Arthur,  387. 
Sully,  9. 
Sumner,    Charles,    189,   252,  319- 

320,  321,  327,  328,  370. 
Sumter,   12. 


Tadolini,   380. 

Tammany     Hall,    40,     180,    232, 

274,  383- 

Taney,  Chief  Justice,  229. 
Tappan,  Mr.,  189. 
Tappan,  Mrs.,  189. 
Tappan,  J.  P.,  222,  223. 
Taxpayers'       Convention,      The 

first,  298-301. 
Taxpayers'       Convention,      The 

second,  319-325. 
Taylor,  Bayard,  51. 
Taylor,  Moses,  48,  61,  258,  287- 

288,  312,  314,  316,  317. 
Taylor,   Robert   L.,  222. 
Taylor,  Thomas  House,  251,  399. 
Thackeray,  William  M.,  51,  386. 


Thayer,  James  S.,  73. 
Thomas,  Burlington,  12-13. 
Thomas,  Gov.,  389. 
Thompson,   Col.,   331. 
Thompson,  Waddy,   115. 
Thornton,   Sir   Edward,  47,   345. 
Thurman,  Allan,  189,  370. 
Thurston,  Abby  Pitman,  21. 
Thurston,   Charles   M.,   21,  38. 
Thurston,  Edward,  311. 
Thurston,  Henry,  39. 
Thurston,     Joseph,    4,     16,     244, 

245,  246. 

Tiemann,  Daniel   F.,   72. 
Tilden,    Samuel   J.,    102,  334-336, 

340,  407. 

Tileston,  T.,  185. 
Tillman,  Ex-Gov.,  236,  381. 
Tillotson,  Thomas,  40. 
Titus,  Mr.,  213. 
Todd,  Rev.  Dr.,  330,  331,  407. 
Toombs,  Robert,  134,  151,  164. 
Townsend  Factory,  63. 
Townsend,  Rev.,  376. 
Townsend,  Mrs.  Rev.,  376. 
Trapier,  William  W.,  8,  14. 
Trapier,  Paul,  398. 
Travers,   Mr.,  258. 
Trenholm,  Col.,  376. 
Trenholm,  Mrs.  Col.,  376. 
Trenholm,    George    A.,    74,    81, 

250,   349,  406. 
Trinity  Church,  398. 
Troze,   183. 
Tucker,  John  H.,  7-8. 
Tuckerman,   Henry  T.,   53. 
Tupper,  386. 

Tupper,  S.  Y.,  296,  308,  310,  349. 
Turner,  J.  M.  W.,  379. 
Tweed,  William,  373,  386. 
Twilight   Club,  385. 
Twilight   Park,  373. 
Tyler,     Ex-President,     120,    157- 

158. 
Tyng,  Stephen   H.,  399,  402-403. 

U 
Union   Club,  68,  385. 

V 

Vail,   Mr.,   174. 
Vallandigham,  215. 
Van    Buren,    John,    35,    40,    182, 
274. 


INDEX 


425 


Van  Buren,  Martin,  7-8,  73,  182. 
Vanderbilt,     Cornelius,     41,     48, 

70-71, 

Vanderbilts,  The,  41. 
Van  Dyke,  Rev.,  98. 
Van  Rensselaer,  Philip,  40. 
Van  Vliet,  Gen.,  57,  190. 
Van  Vliet,  Mrs.   Gen.,   190. 
Van  Wyck,  Robert  A.,  376. 
Van  Wyck,  Mrs.  Robert  A.,  376. 
Veile,  Gen.,  38. 
Vermilye,   Rev.   Dr.,  73. 
Vernet,  Joseph,  379. 
Verplanck,  Julian  C,  61,  399. 
Victoria,     Queen,     58,     361-362, 

383- 

Vinton,   Frank,  36,  399,  400-401. 
Vinton,  Mrs.  Frank,  400. 
Vogdes,   Gen.,  406. 

W 

Wadsworth,   Gen,   180. 
Wagner,   Theodore,  349. 
Wainwright,  Bishop,  39,  40,  399. 
Walker,  Mr.,  166. 
Walker,  Robert  J.,  213. 
Wallace,   Purser,  351. 
Walter,  Geo.   H.,  298-299. 
Ward,   Col.,  39. 
Ward  Family,  The,  38. 
Ward,  John,  40. 
Ward,  Joshua  John,  8. 
Ward,  Mr.,  132. 
Ward,  Samuel,  38,  40. 
Washington,  George,  10-11,  100, 

150,  162-163,  291,  321,  369. 
Washington,    Martha,    375. 
Waterman,     Eleazar,     8,     34-35, 

277. 

Watson,  379. 
Webster,   Daniel,   21-27,  60,    141, 

158,  257,  394. 


Webster,     Mrs.     Daniel,     21-25, 

39- 

Webster,  Dr.,  305. 
Weed,  Thurlow,   183-184. 
Welles,  Gideon,  219-223. 
Wells,  D.  A.,  378. 
West,  Sir  Benjamin,  9,  56. 
Westminster,   Dean   of,  363. 
Weston,  Byron,  331. 
Whaley,  Mr.,  246. 
Wheeler,  Everett  J.,  376. 
Whippen,   Mr.,  239. 
Whitehouse,     Bishop,     21,     219, 

399- 

Whitfield,   19. 
Whitlock,  D.   M.,  72. 
Whitmore,  Prosper  M.,  40. 
Whittemore,   Mr.,   321. 
Wilkinson,  J.  W.,  8. 
Williams,  George,  349. 
Williams,  Gen,  295. 
Williams   &  Guion,  222. 
Wilmer,  Bishop,  254-255. 
Wilson,  Benjamin  H.,  8,  116-119. 
Wilson,   Charles   L.,  209. 
Wilson,  John  Lyde,  14. 
Wingate,  Gen.,  373. 
Winston,  Frederick  S.,  399. 
Winyah    Park,    53-54,    283,    343, 

372-373,  407. 
Wolf,   Joel,   275. 
Wood,   George,  40. 
Wood,  Mayor,  62,  160. 
Worthing,   Admiral,   57. 
Wright,  Wm.,  66. 


Yates,  Edwin,  387. 
Yeadon,   Richard,   13,  349. 
Y.  M.  C.  A.,  172. 
Young,  John  Russell,  57. 


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i  * 

APR  I  5  iqo? 

13  3  'C 

RECEIVED 

IAM   9  1    -i**w9 

JAN  c  1    l>y^ 

CIRCULATION  DBF 

• 

OCT  021995 

FORM  NO.  DD6 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA,  BERKELEY 
BERKELEY,  CA  94720 


U.C.  BERKELEY  LIBRARIES 


50TTG7 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


